The Conqueror
by Iwin Ulose
Summary: This story has 3 arcs. The first, Final Three Arc, is about the Mugiwara Pirates finally reaching the end of the Grand Line. What will happen there? Lots of action, surprises, and a little romance, too.... LxN, more pairings later.
1. One Weird Island

_**Beginning of the "Final Three Arc"**_

Chapter 1 - One Weird Island

**Hi, all! This is technically the sequel to my story "Girl Troubles". However, it is not really a continuation, so therefore you do not have to read it before this one. "Girl Troubles" just explains how Luffy and Nami got together, that is all.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, because Oda-sama beat me to it. : P But I _do_ own my OC, Crystal. Ha!  
**

**Also, I give you fair warning now: SPOILERS. You will notice that I have added a certain carpenter to the crew. Oda-sama has not made this carpenter an official part of the crew yet, but if you do not want to see who it is, then you should not read this. : (**

**Okay, that is all! Enjoy! **

As Nami turned her head and took in their surroundings once again, she felt like she wanted to rip her hair out and scream,

"HOW THE HELL DID WE END UP IN _THIS_ MESS?"

She could not believe their situation.

To start things off, the trip it took to reach this island took _two months_. It was a record, and they were in dire need of supplies. They arrived at this island to find that it was completely uninhabited.

It got worse. As they searched the island for food safe to eat, they found out that the island was indeed inhabited. It was inhabited by wild, vicious, and surprisingly intelligent natives. In a flash, the entire crew fell into various traps. Luffy, Robin, and Chopper all became entangled in nets made of thick, bluish rope. Nami could only guess that they had a slight bluish hue because they somehow contained kairouseki, or sea stone. That was the only explanation she could think of when she saw that all three Devil Fruit users suddenly became extremely weak to the point of motionlessness. Nami, Usopp, and the musician Crystal got caught in a metal cage that seemed to spring out of the ground. Zoro and Sanji were knocked out cold when two large stones tied to thick vines suddenly swung out of the trees and into their heads.

As the natives started to come out of their hiding places among the bushes and trees to claim their prey, Nami looked wildly about for their cyborg carpenter, Franky. She thanked the heavens as she came to the realization that he was not there. He had somehow escaped.

It got worse still. The natives tied up Zoro and Sanji, taking away Zoro's three swords, and then they subdued Nami, Usopp, and Crystal and tied them up, too, after taking their weapons. They dragged the eight helpless pirates to a large clearing. There was a gigantic pile of wood and other combustible material in the center. There were also nine large wooden stakes all around the pile. They were obviously meant for the nine Mugiwara Pirates, and the eight the natives had managed to capture were soon occupying eight of those wooden stakes. The three Devil Fruit users were tied with that same bluish rope.

As Nami went through all of this in her head yet again, her anger started to subside to hoplessness. Franky was now their only hope. _'At least it's better than nothing,'_ she tried to tell herself. (A/N - Anything in single quotes and italics is a thought. In case you did not figure that out. :P) However, she had to question his reliability. Could you blame her? Whenever the Mugiwara Pirates found themselves in a crisis, even Usopp would volunteer to help and fight before Franky. He always took things too lightly. He was even more carefree than their eccentric captain, who Nami used to look at as the definiton of "carefree". When Franky became their nakama, however, that belief quickly changed. Franky was indeed the definition of "carefree".

Luffy seemed to be thinking the same thing. He looked over at Nami, who was tied at the stake next to his, and gave her a weak smile. If that rope was truly kairouseki rope, Nami was amazed that he was able to even open his eyes.

"Franky will... come through..." he whispered hoarsly. "He's our... nakama... Have faith..."

Nami frowned at him. "Who said I don't have faith in Franky?"

Luffy chuckled weakly. His head drooped again and his eyes went back to being closed.

Nami tore her eyes away from him. It hurt her to see her energetic captain so weak and helpless. It was just so unnatural. She turned her attention back to the natives.

The natives of the island numbered at least 100 strong. They all had tanned skin, black hair, black eyes, and the only clothes they wore were brown and red loin cloths. They were all armed with spears; some also had short swords and some had throwing knives. There was a pedestal in front of the pyre, and standing on it was what appeared to be the leader. All the natives were big and muscular, but this guy was much larger and more muscular. In addition to his loin cloth, he wore a brown and red robe that was open in the front. Slung on his back were two large battle spears. He looked bored as he watched his people rush around and make preparations for the ceremony.

"Have they found the ninth one yet?" Nami heard one native say to another. They both looked stressed out. The other shook his head. "No," he said frusturatedly. "Our best scouts are combing the forests right now, though... It won't be long..."

Nami smirked at this. _'If they try to capture him by attacking headlong, they'll be dead in seconds,' _she thought with a grim satisfaction. _'I hope he's smart enough to avoid those clever traps...'_

Sanji, who was tied up at Nami's other side, grunted. "Man, I wish I could smoke," he muttered. He looked up at the natives with a rather frightening look on his face. "You shitheads will never get Franky. He'll beat the shit out of you guys, mark my words. It would be smart to just let us go now!"

They laughed at him.

"I'm serious!" he pressed on fiercely. "You don't know what you're getting yourselves into...!"

"Drop it, Sanji-kun," Nami sighed. "You'll just agitate them. They could decide to forget about Franky and burn us right away..." Sanji fell silent. Suddenly, he heard a loud snore. He whipped his head around to his right side to glare at the swordsman tied up next to him. "You goddamn marimo! How could you be sleeping at a time like this?" the cook yelled in disbelief. Zoro's response was a louder snore.

"Shut up!" a native shouted at Sanji. The native turned away and started to wring his hands nervously. "The great god is going to get angry if we make him wait much longer..." Nami heard him mutter nervously. "We have to sacrifice all intruders to Him... _All _of them..." Sanji heard him, too. He shook his head. "Oi," he said, looking at Nami. "Not another group of crackpots who believe in god."

"Now, now, Sanji-kun," she admonished him. "Don't call the people of Skypiea crackpots. Religion isn't something you should belittle." "Whatever you say, Nami-swan," he replied adoringly, his eyes big, red hearts.

Nami sighed and rolled her eyes. She looked at the forest. _'Please, Franky,'_ she thought desperately. _'Please... if you're out there somewhere... come quickly...'_

* * *

Franky the cyborg couldn't help but chuckle at the scene layed out before him. He was sitting up very, very high in a tall tree. He was well concealed, and not even these natives would be able to find him. Part of the reason was because the tree he was hiding in was right next to the clearing. 

Franky smiled and raised an eyebrow as he looked at his nakama tied up to stakes all around a huge sacrificial pyre. There was a ninth stake, and it was unoccupied. "Why did they even bother to put up nine?" he said quietly to himself arrogantly. "Did they actually think they would _catch_ me?" He stifled his laughter by covering his mouth with one huge forearm. He opened the small cooling unit in the middle of his body and took out a cola bottle. He drained it in one gulp.

As he lounged up in the branches waiting for the right moment, he started to get bored. "Awww, should I just go down now?" he complained. "I'm bored..."

Then his moment came.

"We're done waiting!" the natives' leader suddenly declared in a clear, ringing voice. All movements and noises ceased. Everyone turned to look at him. "We must sacrifice these eight before the great god becomes displeased!" He turned his head to the sky. "Oh, please, Great God, be patient with us! We will capture the ninth one as soon as possible! We will sacrifice these eight right now to help ease your displeasure!"

All the natives gathered around the pyre and started chanting. One native walked up to the pyre. He had a lit torch. He lifted it into the air and said a final prayer. Franky grinned. _'Finally,'_ he thought.

Nami closed her eyes as the native raised his arm to throw the torch...

_'I can't believe it...' _she thought. "Wait!" she cried out desperately. "He'll be here soon, I promise! Just wait! You can do this properly, you can sacrifice all nine of us together...!"

The natives ignored her. The native with the torch drew his hand back...

SMASH!

A glass bottle came out of nowhere and shattered on the native's skull. He collapsed as the torch went flying... towards the pyre. Nami and Usopp screamed. A huge hand attached to a chain snatched it out of the air. Nami followed the chain up to its source with her eyes...

"FRANKY!" she screamed in relief.

He had just jumped out of the tree, threw the empty cola bottle, and stole the torch. His grin was large and very arrogant. He landed in front of the pedestal.

"GET HIM!" the leader shouted. With a roar, the natives rushed at Franky. He quickly pulled a small bomb out from inside his shirt, lit it with the torch, and flung it into the crowd. The explosion was surprisingly big for such a small bomb. A good number of natives went flying into the air screaming. Smoke covered the scene. Nami freaked out when the bomb exploded. _'That idiot...! He could have lit the pyre with that thing!"_ Franky quickly leapt onto the pedestal. There was something leaning against the stand at which the leader was standing at. Actually, there were three things there: Zoro's katanas.

Franky was able to grab one before the leader attacked. Franky jumped away. He leapt over the large crowd of natives and onto the pyre. Nami freaked out again.

"WATCH THAT TORCH WHEN YOU'RE ON THAT THING!" she screeched. Franky snuffed out the torch. He rushed down the side of the wood pile to Zoro's stake. He threw the unlit torch at the closest native's head, knocking him out. He unsheathed Zoro's sword and cut the ropes. As Zoro took the sword from him, the natives were already on top of them.

Zoro crouched down and layed his sword next to him.

"Mutoryu... Tatsumaki!"

A small tornado suddenly came up around him as he sprung up and punched at the air. It launched all the nearby natives around them into the air. The other natives faltered as they stared in surprise at their flying comrades.

Unfortunately, it launched Franky up, too.

"I'LL KILL YOU, SWORDSMAN!" Franky screamed as he flew. Zoro smirked as he picked Wadou Ichimonji and went to work. Franky scowled. He punched as many natives as he could in midair. When he landed, he started attacking more natives. They were flying left and right as they were hit by the cyborg's mighty punches. He jumped over them and lured them away from the pyre. He then used his fire breath to burn a large number of them.

Zoro dashed around freeing his nakama with Kuina's katana, killing all natives that got in his way.

Luffy flexed his arm as the effects of the kairouseki rope faded away. "Finally!"

He launched himself into the air. He pointed himself downward and started spinning, fists flying out toward the ground like crazy as he did.

"GOMU GOMU NO STORM!"

The natives beneath him stood no chance. They were all pounded into the ground or blown away by the force of the punches. When Luffy landed, he quickly ducked to avoid a spear that was swung at his head. He turned to see the leader. He had both big spears out and was swinging them around in his large hands as if they weighed nothing. "All right, I'll fight you then!" declared Luffy as he jumped back to avoid the spinning spears, keeping a hand on his straw hat to keep it from falling off. The natives allowed their leader to fight him one-on-one. They all concentrated on the other escapees instead.

Sanji immediately went to work when Zoro freed him. Three natives charged at him. "Three-point Decoupage!" Sanji's leg flew out and kicked three times in rapid succession. The three natives went flying. A fourth one came out of nowhere and jabbed at Sanji with his spear. Sanji ducked to avoid it. "Collier!" Still crouching, Sanji placed his two hands on the ground and kicked the native directly in the throat. He also went flying back as blood flew from his mouth. More natives charged Sanji from all directions. From his crouching position, he stood up on his two hands and spun around with his legs extended. The natives were all knocked down by the force of the kicks. Before Sanji could even get back on his feet, yet another native charged at him from his right side. Sanji used his hands to launch himself into the air. He raised his foot straight up, his leg at a 90-degree angle, turned his body to the right in midair, and brought his heel down on the back of the man's skull. There was a cracking noise and the attacker fell flat on his face. Sanji landed beside the body. He calmly wiped the blood off the heel of his shoe on the grass. "Finally... I can get out a cigarette..." he muttered. He took one out. As he was lighting it, another native came charging at him, yelling. Without even turning to look at him, Sanji kicked his spear into his face. As the attacker collapsed, Sanji finished lighting his cigarette. He tossed the match away. "Now..." he said, looking around and placing his cigarette in his mouth, "where's my Nami-swan?"

When Usopp got freed, he immediately started to run towards the pedestal. "Gotta get my bag..." he muttered. He sidestepped a spear, causing the attacker to accidentally stab a comrade. "Leave me alone, leave me alone!" he cried as he ran away from the vicious natives. Then he spotted a clear path through the battle to the pedestal. He started sprinting to it... but then a native jumped in front of him out of nowhere. He had a really scary grin on his face and was weilding two short swords. Usopp screamed. "AH, I'M SORRY!" he cried.

WHACK!

The native fell to the ground with a big lump on his head. Nami stood over the body, scowling and brandishing her Clima Tact. She was carrying Usopp's bag. "Here," she said, tossing Usopp's bag to him. "Thanks," he replied gratefully. "BEHIND YOU!" Nami suddenly yelled.

Usopp immediately ducked to avoid the spear. Then, still kneeling down, he whipped around, pulled the string of his slingshot back, and yelled, "Namari Boshi!" He shot a small lead star into the man's gut, causing him to flinch. Then...

"USOPP HAMMER!"

Usopp grabbed Nami's arm and ran before he could get back up.

"GOMU GOMU NO BAZOOKA!" The leader nimbly dodged Luffy's attack. He leapt forward and swung his spears before Luffy could recover from his failed attack. Luffy bent all the way backwards to avoid the spears. His arms snapped back. The warrior tried to kick him, but he rolled out of the way. From his roll, he put his two feet together and pointed them at his opponent. "GOMU GOMU NO SPEAR!" His legs shot out and his feet hit the leader directly in the stomach. He cried out and went flying back. Before he even hit the ground, Luffy began his follow-up attack. He jumped into the air. When he was directly above the leader, he cried, "GOMU GOMU NO STAMP!" His leg shot straight down and the bottom of his foot hit the leader's face, smashing his head into the ground. Luffy landed next to his still body and lifted his foot off the man's face. The bottom of his sandal made an imprint on the leader's face.

To Luffy's slight surprise, the man slowly got up. He rubbed some of the blood off his mouth and stared at Luffy. "What the hell are you?" he asked.

Luffy sighed. "Why does everyone always ask me that?" he complained. "Oh, well, I'll tell you... I'm the man who's gonna be the Pirate King!"

"Pirate King, eh?" the leader grunted. "Interesting..."

"Look, ossan," said Luffy quietly, "I have no reason to kill you. I know you needed us to be sacrificed for your god, so I can't really call you evil..."

"I don't want your pity," snarled the huge native, spitting blood on the ground. "I need you dead, and that's that!" He charged. Luffy sighed again. He stretched out his arms and grabbed the man's shoulders, stopping him dead in his tracks.

"How...!" the leader tried to say, shocked that he was overpowered by someone so much smaller than him.

"This is your chance, ossan," said Luffy. "Let us go and we'll-"

"SHUT UP!" the leader yelled and he slashed Luffy's right arm with his spear. Luffy cried out in pain, and then he glared at his attacker.

"GOMU GOMU NO BELL!"

His legs shot out and wrapped around the man's midriff. Luffy launched himself towards the big man at a very high speed. Luffy's head smashed into his opponent's face. Blood flew from his nose and mouth as his eyes went blank. Luffy let go of him as he started to go flying. He hit the ground and never moved again.

Once Chopper got his backpack back, he ate a Rumble Ball and prepared to fight. "Horn Point!" He turned into his reindeer form and his antlers grew gigantic. He launched two natives into the air. "Jump Point!" Chopper jumped into the air to intercept his flying victims. "Arm Point!" His arms grew huge and with both fists, he slammed the two natives back down to the ground knocking three others over in the process.

A group of six natives charged at Robin. She crossed her arms. "Doce Fleur." Twelve arms sprouted out of the ground in front of them. Each hand grabbed an ankle. "Trip." The hands yanked at their ankles, causing them to fall into each other. "Seis Fleur." One arm sprouted out of each native's shoulder. Each arm wrapped around its victim's neck. "Strangle." They all choked to death as Robin grimly watched.

Crystal was never very good at fighting. She didn't have any of her kairouseki-based weaponry on her, so she had to fight with only pure physical skill. She was pretty good at kicking people, but she just wasn't fast enough. A native came rushing at her. She sidestepped and aimed a kick at the man's face. He easily dodged and swung his spear at her again. She tried to jump back out of the way, but it got the very surface of her skin. She winced, but she was thankful that it was such a shallow cut. She shook her head to get some of her stray blond hair out of her face. Another native joined. She was having a very rough time avoiding them, and she couldn't get in a single kick. A third one gave a battle cry and leapt towards her... she was surrounded...

WHAM!

The third native went flying into the other two. All three of them fell down. Crystal looked at her savior. It was Sanji.

"Are you all right, Crystal-chan?" he asked.

"Yes, thank you, Sanji-kun," she replied in her quiet voice.

Sanji finished the three natives off with a couple of heel drops.

The battle ended as quickly as it started. In just a little under five minutes, the nine Mugiwara Pirates took out all the natives of whom there were 100.

The Mugiwara Crew was done. They were completely wiped out from the effort of the battle. They all had enough energy during the battle because of adrenaline rush, but they had been so low on supplies that they hadn't eaten a proper meal for quite some time. Now that the battle was over, they all became extremely weak from the hunger. None of them had nearly as much energy as they ususally did.

Without saying a single word, the pirates trudged their way through the jungle, keeping to the path that would lead them to the small beach where they left their ship. They all stumbled on branches and things as they walked; that's how worn out they were. They could barely even walk at that point. Luffy walked over to Nami and they both wrapped an arm around each other to keep each other stable as they walked.

They all eventually reached the beach. There sat their small warship Eternal Merry, its various weapons glistening in the sun.

The crew didn't even make it to the ship; they just collapsed on the sand of the small, beautiful beach. It was very comfortable. Zoro sat with his back against a palm tree. He promptly fell asleep. Usopp and Chopper fell flat on their faces and didn't move. Sanji and Crystal just fell on their backs and looked up at the sky. Luffy and Nami collapsed onto the sand together. "Mmmm, I'm tired," Nami mumbled happily. "I'm really hungry..." Luffy mumbled miserably. She snuggled up against him, her head resting on his chest as she listened to his heart beat. It was all so soothing... the soft sand, the warm sun, Luffy's heart beat... Her eyelids started to drop. _'Must... stay awake...'_ she thought. _'We need to leave... ASAP... but... oh, god, this is SO comfortable... Maybe just a little nap here...'_

Franky and Robin sweat-dropped as they watched everyone fall asleep. "Why aren't _you_ tired?" Franky asked Robin, turning his head to look at her.

"Oh, I am," said Robin, smiling, "but I know how to fight it."

Franky raised an eyebrow at her as she walked away to wake the others. "Well?" Robin said over her shoulder. "Are you going to help me wake them or not?"

Franky grumbled. He didn't really feel like it. Robin suddenly stopped and looked at Franky. "Actually, I have a better idea," she said thoughtfully. "I am going to go find some food for these guys. You work on waking them."

Before he could think of anything to say to stop her, she was already hidden from view by the trees of the jungle. Franky glared at his sleeping nakama. "Goddamn it," he muttered. "First, I gotta save them, and now _this_?" He shook his head. "What a horrible fucking day _this_ turned out to be..."

**Okay, make sure you review, please. I will update this every Saturday. I will try to, at least. I am going to be a very busy senior in high school this year, so bear with me if I do not have an update every Saturday. : P** **Oh, yes, and the character Crystal and her history will become more and more clear as the chapters go on.  
**


	2. Navigator vs Mother Nature

Chapter 2 - Navigator vs. Mother Nature

**Sorry it took so long! I got grounded! DAMN PARENTS! Ahem, sorry. Anyway, I will be back on schedule by next Saturday. Like I promised before, I will try my very hardest to get a new chapter up every Saturday. Okay, here it goes!**

Robin walked along the now-familiar path deep into the jungle. Sun was poking in through the treetops. The rays of sunlight shining into the jungle in various spots made the jungle a very beautiful place. Robin was smiling slightly and humming a little tune as she searched for food. The jungle was lush, and fruit was plentiful. She found a small group of trees bearing a soft, purple fruit about the size of grapefruits. Arms sprouted out of the trees' limbs and picked the fruit. More arms sprouted out of Robin's back to catch the incoming fruit being thrown down from the treetops. She bit into a fruit as she worked. It was very tender and _very_ juicy.

"Mmmmm!" she exclaimed softly. "Delicious. Captain-san will be most pleased, even if it is not meat."

She soon ran out of room for more arms on her back, so more arms branched out from her two original arms to keep catching the fruit. "I should have brought a few baskets," she said happily to herself. "I could keep sprouting more and more arms, but... it will become a bit ridiculous. I think I will just go back and get some baskets." She started to follow the path back to the little beach. "Besides, I wonder if Carpenter-san has had any luck in waking our nakama." She continued humming as she calmly strode through the jungle, occasionally walking through beams of sunlight.

* * *

Luffy shifted uncomfortably in Nami's arms. He was _soooo_ hungry... He looked at Nami's sleeping face nestled against his chest and tried to relax. _'How can she sleep?'_ he thought in amazement. _'Isn't she really hungry, too? How can **anyone** sleep while being so hungry?'_

That's when Franky attacked.

"YO! WAKE UP!" the cyborg yelled as he pounded the ground. He made a crater with his fist. The ground shook. Nami shot up out of Luffy's arms and screamed. Without realizing what she was doing, she hit Luffy over and over on the head as she screamed in fright. Franky laughed his ass off as Luffy lay on the ground, several bumps popping up under his straw hat and tears streaming down his face. "Owwwww..." he moaned. Nami gasped. "Oh, Luffy! I'm sorry! That jackass startled me."

Franky's laughing was interrupted by a solid kick to the side of his head. He hit the ground. He got up and glared at Sanji.

"How dare you do that to Nami-san?" he growled.

Crystal grabbed Sanji's arms from behind and tried to restrain him. "No, no!" she exclaimed. "Calm down, Sanji-kun! Franky-kun didn't mean any harm."

Sanji snarled at Franky one last time before heeding Crystal's words. He turned to her smiling face. They both suddenly started to laugh. Franky sweat-dropped. "What the hell's so funny?" he yelled.

Luffy yawned and sat back down on the incredibly soft sand and Nami joined him. Luffy wrapped an arm around her and looked up at Crystal. "Hey, do you mind playin' a song?" he asked eagerly.

She giggled. "Not at all, Luffy-kun, but my instruments are on the ship... Would you like me to just sing?" "Ah, Crystal-chan has the voice of an angel!" Sanji crooned. "Get the flute!" Luffy said excitedly. "I like the flute!"

Crystal smiled. "Hai," she complied and she walked to the Eternal Merry, the white paint of the old ram figurehead gleaming in the sunlight.

The warship was quite different from the original Going Merry. The only two things it kept were the figurehead, which they salvaged from the sea after Kaku, a member of the radical CP9, pushed the ship into the water and caused it to shatter, and Nami's mini tangerine orchard, which was remade by Nami and her ever-faithful admirer Sanji.

The Eternal Merry was the gift the Mugiwara Pirates received for defeating CP9 and becoming the heroes of the city Water Seven. The mayor Iceburg personally made the keel and ribs of the ship, making sure its foundation was as sturdy as humanly possible. Paulie and the rest of the Galley-La carpenter team, the greatest carpenters in the world, built the rest of the ship, including adding the old ram figurehead to the very front of the bow. The ship was reinforced with steel, but still had a nice wooden exterior. Franky then took charge of loading it with a superior set of weapons. Usopp christened it the Eternal Merry after he made up with Luffy and rejoined the crew. In the end, it turned out to be slightly more than three times the size of the Going Merry. Nami loved it because of the layout and style of the living quarters below deck; Usopp loved it because it still had the ram figurehead and it was equipped with the latest and greatest cannons, and also an awesome workshop; Sanji loved it because the galley was so well-built and well-designed, it reminded him of working back on the Baratie; Chopper loved it because it had a doctor's office, plenty of storage for his medical ingredients and books, and an infirmary; Zoro loved it because it came with an awesome workout room below deck, and the deck itself had many prime napping spots; Franky loved it because it was armed with _his_ kickass weapons system; Luffy loved it because it looked so freakin' awesome; Robin was pretty much indifferent. At the time, she had simply been happy to be back with her true nakama.

Crystal went to her and Robin's room. She opened up her huge, ebony instrument case. Within layed a few other, smaller cases. She played several instruments: trumpet, clarinet, guitar, piano, and almost all types of percussion. Her main instrument was the flute, however. The huge case contained the cases for her small, silver trumpet, clarinet, and flute. She took out her flute's case. She brushed her blond hair out of her eyes and pulled out the flute pieces. She assembled it in a blink of an eye and gazed upon it lovingly. "Music is my life..." she said to herself. She furiously tightened her grip on her flute. "However... the Shichibukai come first... I must see to it that they all... die."

She sighed and got up to leave. She then realized how dirty her clothes were. She hated being dirty. She quickly changed into a clean pink T-shirt and a small black skirt before rushing back out to play music for her nakama.

* * *

"GAAAH! MONSTER!" 

Usopp and Chopper clung to each other as they saw Robin emerge from the jungle. After all, with all her extra limbs, she looked pretty damn scary.

"Oi, what is _with _you guys?" demanded Franky. "It's Robin! You know... Nico Robin? Your _nakama_?" He sighed incredulously as Robin tossed a purple fruit to him.

Zoro, Sanji, and Nami worked together to physically restrain Luffy from waylaying Robin and eating all the fruit. "SO HUNGRY!" the captain screamed. "DON'T DENY ME!"

"Oi, wait your turn," said Zoro. "Yeah, Luffy, we're ALL hungry," Nami pointed out. "God, you're so stupid, Luffy," said Sanji.

Crystal giggled and she started a soothing melody on her flute. Her music had somewhat strong effects on Luffy since he was so... weak-minded. Luffy went limp in Zoro, Sanji, and Nami's arms. They let him go and he collapsed to the sand. "Aaaah..." he mumbled. "Don't stop, Crystal... such a nice song..."

Nami, Zoro, and Sanji all laughed as they walked past Luffy to get their share of fruit before Crystal had to stop playing to regain her breath. When she eventually stopped, Luffy sprang up.

There was no fruit left.

It took 50 of Robin's arms sprouting out of the ground around Luffy to restrain him this time. "HOW COULD YOU GUYS? I'M STARVING! I'M THE CAPTAIN! I NEED FOOOOOOOOD!"

Nami shook her head. "Luffy, why don't you go into the jungle and eat some yourself?"

Robin released him. The crew could have sworn that Luffy had just vanished from thin air. A few seconds later, they could hear him ravaging the fruit trees of the jungle. Robin sweat-dropped. "I hope he realizes that some of those fruits are poisonous..."

Well, in case you didn't guess it, Luffy did _not_ realize this. When they rescued him from the jungle a half hour later, Chopper had to try 14 different antidotes to heal all the poisons that had entered his body. Everyone watched except for Robin. She merely chuckled, grabbed two large baskets from the ship, and went to collect the rest of the edible fruit in the jungle.

* * *

"S-sorry if I worried you..." Luffy said sheepishly as they got ready to leave. 

"SORRY?" screamed Nami. "That's all you have to say? Try LOOKING before you eat next time!"

Luffy laughed. "Hey, at least I'm full now. That's all that matters, am I ri-"

Nami punched him in the face before he could finish. Everyone laughed. Nami stormed off. Luffy rubbed his nose gingerly and chuckled. "Ah, just like old times..." said Usopp happily.

This was actually the way most days went. After about a week of being together, Luffy and Nami had started acting like they used to towards each other, at least when the rest of the crew was around. They still had their moments, of course, but they kept things nice and "normal" the majority of the time. It kept the crew happy and it put Sanji more at ease. The less public displays of affection he had to witness, the better.

"Well, let's get moving, everyone!" Nami yelled. "Zoro, raise the anchors! Sanji, hoist the sails! Franky, get the weapons ready, just in case! Chopper, man the wheel and make a hard turn to port once we get moving!" "Aye, aye!" they all called.

Moments after Zoro raised the two anchors that were necessary for keeping the large ship in place, they were off once again.

* * *

Nami sighed as she leaned against the port side railing. It was just her and Crystal. Everyone else was below deck playing games, or in Sanji's case, cooking. As the Eternal Merry was technically a warship, every room was below deck. The deck itself was reserved for the "defense system", as Franky liked to call it. It was actually nothing more than a rather impressive display of weapons, most of which were unnecessary and never used. Nami thought of it as just another example of how men liked to show off their muscle. 

Crystal was sitting against a small tower near Nami. The small tower was about 5 feet high, and its purpose was to conceal one of the many cannons on the ship. The musician was busy tuning her guitar which she hadn't touched for some time since Luffy would always demand that she play her flute instead of any of her other instruments.

"What's the matter?" Crystal asked in repsonse to Nami's sigh. Nami jumped at the sound of the musician's quiet voice. She had been lost in her own thoughts. "Oh, nothing," she replied. "Just thinking."

"About what?" Crystal asked kindly.

"Oh, just about the Grand Line," Nami answered. "I mean, we've been sailing it for so long... It's been about... a year and half? No, a little less. Well, anyway, we've made it so far, and I'm starting to wonder... How close are we to the end?"

"Well, according to my brother, the end is not far off from that island where I met you guys."

"Really?" said Nami skeptically. "Well, sorry, but I just can't trust your brother's words..."

"I know..." Crystal whispered sadly.

Nami turned her haed and looked at Crystal, whose head was now bent in sadness. "Hey, I'm sorry," Nami apologized softly. "I shouldn't have said that."

"No, no, you're right," Crystal said. Nami was surprised to hear an edge to her voice. Crystal raised her head and practically glared at her guitar as she conitnued to tune it. Nami turned her head back to the sea and smiled faintly. _'Poor girl... What a horrible brother to have to grow up with...'_

Crystal strummed her guitar. The last note still sounded off. After a little adjustment, she was done. "Ah, that's better," she said happily. Sht started to strum a little tune, but she stopped when she saw Nami's body suddenly stiffen. "What's the matter?"

"Storm..." Nami whispered.

"What?"

"Storm!" Nami suddenly yelled. She whipped around, a look of utmost fear on her face. "A huge storm is coming!" She started stomping her foot as hard as she could on the deck. "OI! EVERYBODY! UP HERE NOW! BIG STORM COMING!"

In just a few seconds, everyone was standing around Nami, frightened at how scared the navigator looked. Usopp looked up and frowned. "Storm? The sky is completely blue, not a cloud in the sky..."

Sanji kicked Usopp in the head. "Oi!" the cook growled. "Don't contradict Nami-san! She's a genius, a beautiful genius, and she is always right."

Nami's face suddenly went from horrified to determined. "Well? What are you all waiting for? Let's move! The biggest storm we've ever faced is coming!"

As everyone rushed to make the proper preparations, Crystal walked over to Nami's side, still clutching her guitar. "Are you sure, Nami-chan?" she asked.

Nami looked at her in surprise. "You were outside with me! Don't _tell_ me you didn't feel that change in air pressure! It was unreal! Even _you _had to have noticed it."

Crystal frowned. "Actually, yeah, the air _did _seem to change a bit somehow... I thought it was the wind or something."

Nami laughed grimly. "Wind? Yeah, it was wind, alright. The deadliest wind you will ever see..."

Before they were done with the preparations, the clouds started to roll in. The blue sky sooned drowned in the enourmous sea of black clouds.

"Cumulonimbus..." Nami whispered. "BIG ones. We're in for it."

A few minutes later, the crew had to light all the waterproof lamps around the deck in order to see. The inky clouds completely denied the emergence of any sun rays. The pirates were soon plunged into an emulation of a moonless night.

Nami's hair started to stand on end. She looked around; everyone's hair started to stand on end as they stared up at the sky, awestruck.

"BELOW DECK, NOW!" Nami screamed.

It was too late. Forked lightning unleashed its rage over the Eternal Merry. Crystal and Franky were hit, along with the port side of the ship. Franky had built an armor system into the ship. At the push of a button, the nice wooden exterior of the ship would become a metal-plated warship ready for action. He forgot to push that button, and the ship suffered for it. A chunk of the ship shattered.

Crystal and Franky hit the ground, limp. Franky recovered and got up just as the first huge wave hit the ship.

Everyone went flying. Usopp and Zoro grabbed the mast. Sanji hit the railing. Luffy wrapped his legs around one of the cannon towers and stretched his arms out to catch both Nami and Chopper. Robin had thought ahead and sprouted arms out of the deck to root her to it. Franky shot his hands out and grabbed the mast.

Crystal, paralyzed from the lightning strike, fell into the water.

It was like Vivi all over again. Luffy watched it as if it was in slow motion.

"NOOOOO!"

Luffy put down Nami and Chopper to stretch his arms into the water and save her, just like he did Vivi when she fell off the ship so long ago. As he dashed toward the side of the ship, it was like deja vu. This time, however, it turned out different. Nami grabbed him from behind.

"No, Luffy! These waves are way too violent! If you put arms into them, you'll get pulled in!"

"Really? Damn."

Without another word, Nami dived into the water.

Luffy wanted to kill himself right then and there. Another bolt of lightning came down. Franky hadjust raised the lightning rod to catch it. Luffy watched as if he was in another world. He wished that the lightning bolt could have killed him...

_'I can't save her... I can't go in that water. The only person I will ever love... I can't even save her!'_

He cried out in anguish as all the others rushed to the side of the ship to stare down into the water and yell out the girls' names.

"Well, no choice here," said Sanji. He threw off his suit and shoes and dove in. Zoro took off his shirt and boots and jumped in. Franky looked down disdainfully and jumped in, too. After all, he _was_ a hero.

* * *

It was like nothing Nami ever experienced. She had been in violent water before, but this was insane. She instinctively tried to struggle against the waves. The hungry waters merely closed in on her more tightly and dragged her closer to the bottom of the sea. It was as if they were laughing at her futileness, mocking her. She knew she had to relax her body... Struggling only makes you sink faster. She willed her body to listen to her reasoning. Soon, she was slowly slipping out of the waves' grip. She started rising to the surface... She took a quick breath before another wave forced her back down. 

She spotted Crystal.

She allowed a wave to fling her limp body closer to the musician. Crystal was struggling. She was going to drown.

Crystal's wild and frightened eyes fell upon Nami. They extended their hands toward each other, and Crystal grabbed on. She tried to swim up while holding on to Nami's hand, but all it did was make them both sink faster.

_'Shit!' _Nami thought frantically. _'She'll get us both killed...!'_

As she tried to calm Crystal down and keep holding her breath, her mind turned to one person, and only one person...

_'Luffy... I have to get through this... No way am I going to die now that I have someone I love!'_

Unfortunately, there was really nothing she could do. The violent water buffeted the two girls back and forth like ragdolls. Nami suddenly felt Crystal go limp. She had taken in too much water. Nami willed herself to keep from panicking. However, the water just got rougher and rougher... There was no way she was going to reach the surface now...

Then she saw... a flash of blond hair. It was coming closer. She had to restrain herself from calling out Sanji's name.

Sanji was cutting his way through the water by kicking his powerful legs. Zoro was close behind. His superior upper body strength allowed him to swim just as well as Sanji. Nami started to feel very lightheaded... She needed air... She barely noticed as Sanji grabbed onto her arm. Everything went blurry, and soon after, the whole world went dark...

_'No! Luffy...!'_

* * *

The water was just too rough. Although he tried with all his might to swim upward, the waves just wouldn't let him. It was akin to trying to run through a brick wall. Zoro took Nami's other arm, the one that was still clutching Crystal, and helped Sanji up. If he had Sanji's leg strength, _maybe_ he would have been able to help, but he didn't. They weren't going to make it... All four of them were going to drown... 

Two hands connected to chains suddenly cut through the water towards Sanji. The cook's eyes widened. _'Franky!' _he thought in surprise. Elation rushed through his body as the cyborg grabbed onto him and Zoro. The hands pulled the four pirates through the water. They cut through the violent water like torpedos. The hands shot them up to the surface and flung them out of the water.

"WAHOOOO!" whooped Sanji as they flew through the air to land back on the ship. He and Zoro shakily got back up. Thunder drowned out Chopper's yell of alarm and Luffy's yell of pure joy. They both rushed over. Chopper transformed into his man-beast form. He hoisted Crystal into his arms. "Luffy, take Nami," he commanded. "Yosh!" Luffy replied happily. He picked up Nami's shivering body. He frowned as he felt how cold she was. She was unconcious, too. He and Chopper hurried below deck to the infirmary.

Franky jumped out of the water at that moment. He landed on the deck with a metallic thud.

"Thank god for you, Franky," said Sanji gratefully. "Cyborgs _are_ useful, I guess..."

"Wow, who would have known?" said Zoro in a mock surprised voice.

Franky punched them both in the face.

* * *

The weather didn't improve. They all went below deck soon after the incident. Franky activated the "defense system", covering the ship in a plate of metal armor. The warship was almost impossible to capsize, the lightning couldn't hurt it, and there was no point in trying to navigate through such a lethal storm. Therefore, they all went below deck to dry off and stay safe. No one wanted to have to save someone from the deadly waters again. 

Nami was awake. She was wrapped tightly in a towel and in Luffy's arms, sipping a cup of hot cocoa. She was still shivering a bit.

"Goddamn, Nami..." Luffy was saying. "Please don't scare me like that again. I'm a Hammer! I can't save you if you go in _there_!"

Nami couldn't help but laugh at Luffy's concern. "Okay, I'll try not to jump into the ocean again." She got serious again. "I don't know what came over me... I saw Crystal go in, and I just had an irresistible urge to jump in after her and save her..."

"Ah, Nami-san, it is because you are such a wonderful person!" Sanji said fondly as he placed a bowl of hot soup on the table next to her.

"I don't think so," replied Nami. "When have I ever been a wonderful person to anybody?"

"She's got a point," Zoro pointed out. "She is rarely nice to _anyone, _besides Luffy. And she's usually bitchy toward _him_, too."

Sanji decided to ignore that one. They were both too tired to fight.

Chopper walked out of the infirmary. "I got the water out of Crystal's lungs, but... she was very, very close to drowning. Her severe lack of oxygen has messed with her brain a bit, I think. She is going to be out for a while longer. She'll proably be a bit disoriented for a while after she wakes up, too."

"Her brain?" said Usopp, alarmed. "How?"

"Brain cells need oxygen," explained Chopper. "And lots of it. That is why you get dizzy if you have been holding your breath for a long time, or if you have been blowing on something for a long time."

"So... Crystal-chan will be all right?" Sanji asked quietly. Chopper nodded in response. A look of utmost relief seemed to cross Sanji's face.

Zoro decided to go check on the storm outside. He went up the ladder, opened the trapdoor, and poked his head out. He had to struggle to keep his head up in the wind. He looked to the left... The thunderstorm was still raging on the front part of the ship. He looked to the right... and nearly fell off the ladder in surprise.

The back of the ship was being attacked by a savage blizzard.

"I don't believe this shit..." he muttered.

Nami agreed with that statement when he reported what he saw. "My god!" she exclaimed. "This is _by far_ the worst weather we've ever experienced on the Grand Line!"

"Maybe... maybe we're nearing the end!" said Luffy in an excited, hushed voice.

Everyone went deathly quiet.

The thought of that... blew their minds away. They had been sailing the Grand Line for... quite a long time now. Truthfully, they had all forgotten about the true reason they were there. They were sailing to find One Piece. After all they had been going through, it had kind of slipped their minds... except Luffy's, of course. Nami suddenly thought back to Crystal's words...

_"Well, according to my brother, the end is not far off from that island where I met you guys." _

Robin gave Luffy an appraising look over the top of her novel. "Why, Captain-san, you may have a point."

Luffy grinned widely. "Yosh! I know it! We're nearing the end!" He shivered with excitement. Nami smiled at him and slipped out of his arms. He jumped up into the air. "TO PIRATE'S SUMMIT! TO THE ONE PIECE!"

"AYE AYE!"

**As always, thanks for the reviews. : ) Hope everyone is having a better time at school than me. : (**


	3. A Very Long Trip to the Future

Chapter 3 – A Very Long Trip to the Future

**Warning - This chapter has lime-ish content. Do not worry; it has a point to it. You heard right! There is a lime scene here that is not there just for the hell of it! It is a part of the plot line! How cool is that?**

Nami was sitting on a stool and brushing her hair in front of the mirror in her and Luffy's room. It was the biggest bedroom; the "captain's quarters". She was in her white dressing gown and feeling very tired. It was such a crazy day... and the weather still hadn't improved much. The sturdy ship would lurch from time to time, but the crew got used to it pretty quick. Nami sighed. At least Crystal had woken up... It was as Chopper said. She was a bit disoriented for a while. She couldn't stand up for too long. After eating some of Sanji's soup and taking it easy for a while, she got better. Chopper said she would be perfectly fine in the morning.

Nami could not keep her mind off One Piece. The greatest treasure in the world... Just _thinking _those words made her tremble with excitement. She also realized that with the greatest treasure would come the greatest obstacles. What will they encounter when they get there? How will they handle it? What will happen if they fail? What would happen to Luffy...? Nami pushed these negative thoughts out of her mind. _'What will come, will come,' _she told herself firmly. _'We've always managed to pull through before... and this time will be no different!'_

"Wow... I can't believe everyone's gone to bed already."

Nami nearly jumped out of her skin. She did not hear or notice Luffy coming into the room. She dropped her hair brush in surprise. "Well, yeah," she replied, bending over on her stool to reach down and retrieve the brush. "It's been a really busy day. These storms are crazy..."

Luffy stretched out his arm and picked up her brush for her. She trailed her eyes up his arm and locked her gaze on his smiling face. She gave a rather half-hearted smile in response. "I guess you're right," said Luffy.

Nami took her brush back and turned back to her mirror to resume her brushing. Luffy closed the door, tossed his hat onto the dresser, and plopped down on the bed face-first. He flipped over onto his back and sighed. He put his arms behind his head and turned his head to watch Nami continuously brush her hair. She was trying to get all the knots out. She hadn't done so in quite some time.

"I like your hair longer, Nami," Luffy said out of the blue. It was true; she hadn't been keeping it short lately. Her beautiful orange hair was now just long enough to cover her shoulder blades. She sighed. "I know, Luffy. You've told me at least twice everyday for a week straight now." Luffy laughed. "Well, it's true," he retorted playfully.

They were silent for a while. For some reason, it was an uncomfortable silence. It was as if they were both bursting to say something, but were waiting for the other to speak first. The ship jerked as another wave hit it. Finally, Luffy broke the silence.

"It's been boring lately," he said. "Hm?" Nami replied questioningly. "What has been boring?" "Us," he answered simply.

She whipped her head around to face him. His face was an impassive wall, hiding any emotion he might be feeling at the moment. "What do you mean?" she inquired rather sharply.

"We haven't _done_ anything lately," he replied.

Nami thought she understood. She rolled her eyes and sighed. "Luffy, it's only been two weeks. And I'm not in the mood for it tonight."

Luffy sat up on the bed. "Not just that," he said quickly. He didn't want to anger Nami. She was not in the best of moods for some reason. He had sensed this the very second he had stepped into the room. He didn't know why, but he did know not to push it.

"What else?" she asked, placing her brush upon the table and turning on her stool to face him.

He shrugged. "You know how I am. I can't explain it; it's just been _boring_. It used to be so much more fun."

Nami took it that he meant their relationship in general. She, too, had noticed a slight... decrease. She, too, found it hard to explain. "Well, aren't you excited about reaching the One Piece?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

Luffy frowned. "Of course I am. But I would rather be able to enjoy the rest of the trip fully. With you."

Nami smiled. Even after a little over a year of being together, Luffy was still capable of saying the sweetest things. It wouldn't be nearly as sweet as another guy saying it. Luffy was just plain different, which was a major reason why she loved him. She also knew that Luffy was 100 percent sincere when he said these things; he would never say such things just to make her happy, like the million other guys in the world would. He also said them because he meant them. "Ah, Luffy..." was all she managed to say. Luffy grinned when he realized he had made her happier. It's not as if he was trying to. He had learned that whenever he said what he truly felt, it would make his Nami happier. He lived to see her happy.

"Ah, what?" he replied playfully. He stood up, picked her up off the stool, and spun around in circles with her. She laughed. It reminded her of being a kid. Luffy had that effect on a lot of people, and it was a good thing. They stopped spinning and held on to each other as they struggled to stay standing from the dizziness. Suddenly, the ship jerked violently again. It flung them onto the bed. They were still in each other's arms. Luffy gave her a little smile. "I thought you said you weren't in the mood..." he said quietly. Nami got off the bed. Luffy started to get off the bed, too, but she pushed him back down. He raised an eyebrow and sat up, but didn't try to get off again. She took a few steps back and gave him a naughty smile. "Well, I'm allowed to change my mind, right?" She started to slowly pull the strap of her dressing gown and slide it down her shoulder. "Besides," she said in a very seductive voice, "you said you were getting bored..."

Luffy chuckled. "Good point," he agreed. He decided to stay silent at this point. Nami did this kind of thing very rarely. He couldn't remember the last time she stripped for him, but it had been a very long time and she was _very_ good at it.

_'He always tries to make _me _happy...' _she thought as he watched her with utmost interest. _'I really should make it up to him... Besides, I could do with some stress relieving right now.'_

When Nami was no longer wearing anything, she sauntered up to Luffy. She almost expected him to start panting like a dog, his face was so filled with anticipation. He restrained himself as she pushed him onto his back and slowly undid the buttons on his vest. She looked up at his face as she ran her tongue down the length of his body. She was pleased by the look on his face. She was definitely gaining the reaction she wanted from him. She unzipped his shorts, threw them off, and slowly, tantalizingly, expertly removed his boxers with her teeth.

He couldn't take it anymore.

He picked her up. She gave a little exclamation of surprise as he threw her back onto the bed onto her back. Luffy practically threw himself on top her. He grinned devilishly. "I knew you were bored, too," he said knowingly. Nami giggled. "Come on, Luffy..." she said in that voice that made her maddeningly irresistible. "You said you were bored? Show me how you can make things more exciting..."

* * *

Rivers of drool poured from Usopp's and Chopper's mouths as they sat in the kitchen and watched Sanji pull the pies out of the oven. They were made from that purple fruit Robin had discovered and the smell they made when cooked was beyond description; it was that good.

"Saaaaanjiiiiii..." Usopp and Chopper moaned. "Let us have some now..."

Sanji glared at them. "They have to cool down," he replied impatiently.

Usopp and Chopper stared pointedly at the pies that had been removed from the oven a couple hours ago and were now cooled. Sanji followed their gaze and scowled. "Dammit, how many times do I have to tell you? We have to wait for _everyone_. Nami-san and Luffy aren't here yet. We never have breakfast without Nami-san, Robin-chan, or Crystal-chan. _Never_."

Robin smiled. "And remember, you two," she said, "you may love those pies now, but don't get carried away. Trust me, after a week of having nothing but food made from these fruits, you will get quite sick of it."

"Yeah, and how would you know?" asked Franky, raising an eyebrow. "You said you never had these."

Robin turned her smile toward Franky. "Well, Carpenter-san, you will always get sick of a food you eat too often. I am sure this fruit will be no exception."

Crystal nodded in agreement and Usopp and Chopper moaned some more. "Where the hell are those two, anyway?" grumbled Zoro, who was referring to Luffy and Nami.

"Where do you think?" Sanji replied sullenly. "They are still asleep. Probably had a tiring night..."

At that moment, Sanji's words were proved true; Luffy and Nami walked into the kitchen. They walked in hand-in-hand, which was a rather rare sight. They both indeed looked very tired, but at the same time their faces seemed to glow with this inextinguishable happiness, as if they had both achieved their lifelong dreams overnight.

"See?" grumbled Sanji. "They had quite a night." Neither Luffy or Nami heard him.

"Good morning!" Nami greeted cheerfully. Luffy sniffed at the air and his eyes popped out of his head when he spotted the pies. "I WANT SOME NOW!" he yelled demandingly. He let go of Nami's hand and dove for the pies. Sanji stopped him and Luffy struggled to get past him. Nami giggled and sat down heavily in the chair next to Crystal. The musician took one good look at Nami's face and whispered, "What happened last night? I don't think I have ever seen you this happy." Nami looked at her and gave her a wink. "I think you know. I'll tell you more later." "Okay," Crystal giggled in response.

Finally, after everyone got settled at the table, Sanji served the pie. They all ate like crazy; after all, they were all starving.

"So," said Nami after swallowing a rather huge bite, "how's the weather?"

Zoro swallowed his food and responded, "I just checked a half hour ago. It's not too good. The deck is frozen over from a vicious blizzard and there's lightning flashing down everywhere." As if to confirm his report, the ship shook slightly at a particularly loud clap of thunder. "It's all snow and lightning," he continued. "It was the weirdest thing I've ever seen. Well, as far as weather goes."

Franky smirked. "No little blizzard or lightning storm is gonna hurt _this _ship. I built her, after all."

"No," Nami corrected, "you _helped _build it." "Yeah!" agreed Luffy through a huge mouthful. "You made the kickath defenth thythtem!" Luffy swallowed. "This ship wouldn't be nearly as awesome if it weren't for you, Franky!" Franky looked rather proud of himself for a good while after that.

* * *

It was Crystal's turn to go out and check the weather. It has been 5 days since they first started experiencing this crazy weather. Every two hours, a Mugiwara pirate would go out to check on the weather. Crystal shivered. She was always secretly afraid when it was her turn to go out. She kept her fear a secret so the others wouldn't look down on her for it. She did not want to seem weak in front of them. She would be strong, just like the rest of them.

This secrecy didn't stop Sanji from following her.

"Oi! Crystal-chan!" he called as he ran to catch up to the musician. She stopped and turned to look at him in surprise. "Yes, Sanji-kun?"

The cook smiled. "I know you hate going out there. I've decided to come with you this time."

They started to walk together as she looked at him in surprise. "How did you know...?"

Sanji shrugged. "I'm not sure," he replied nonchalantly. "I just... _know_. Anyway, the point is, I am here to make it easier for you to go up there."

Crystal smiled. "Thank you, Sanji-kun. That means a lot."

He waved that off. "No big deal, no big deal. Besides,-" His eyes turned into hearts. "-I could never disappoint the beautiful Crystal-chan!" Crystal sighed and rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but smile, too.

Crystal and Sanji reached the ladder that led up to the deck. She went up first. She opened up the trap door and poked her head out. The deck was completely frozen over and there was some thunder rumbling far away, but besides that, there were no signs of any storms. The sun was shining despite the faraway sounds of thunder. It was a beautiful sight; the sun glinted and shone on the ice that covered the ship. The ice acted as a prism and threw the colors of the rainbow all over the ship, like one giant sun catcher. It took her breath away. She stepped out all the way and stood on the deck, turning her head in every which direction to stare in awe at the natural beauty laid out before her. Sanji stepped out and gasped as he, too, admired the scenery.

"This... is amazing!" breathed Crystal. She started to walk but almost immediately slipped on the ice. "Eep!"

Sanji caught her right before she hit the ice. She stood upright again and grinned sheepishly at him. "Thanks."

"WOAH! SUGEEEE!"

Sanji and Crystal whirled around in surprise, causing the both of them to slip on the ice. Luffy's arms shot out and caught the both of them. He let go of them when he made sure they had sure footing, then continued to stare around in amazement. "This is sooooo awesome!" he said excitedly.

Chopper soon followed him out, followed by Usopp, Nami, Zoro, Franky, and finally Robin. Chopper's eyes became glittering stars as he admired the ship in shock. "Ooooh, suge!" He started sliding around the ice on his hooves, laughing happily. "Ha ha ha, this fun!"

Usopp frowned. "Wish I could skate, too..." he muttered. Then he snapped his fingers. "Duh!" He ran back below deck to his workshop.

Luffy kept trying to run after Chopper and chase him, but his sandals refused to let him go more than three feet without falling flat on his face. Of course, it didn't stop him; he repeatedly got up and started running again, laughing the whole time. "Ha ha ha ha-! Oof! Ow... Ha ha ha ha-! Gah! Ow... Ha ha ha ha ha-!"

You get the point.

Nami, Crystal, and Robin watched him and nearly died of laughing. Sanji and Zoro started arguing about who could keep from slipping on the ice longer, then started having a race, both falling at the exact same time every 5 seconds. Franky would get a running start, then just slide along the ice and make random poses as he slid along. Usopp soon rejoined them. He was wearing a crudely-made pair of ice skates. The shoes were wooden and the blades weren't very sharp, but they still worked. He and Chopper skated around the ship together, making Luffy overwhelmingly jealous.

They had fun most of the day out on the ice. However, the sun became unbearably hot later in the afternoon. The ice melted as Nami and Robin changed into bathing suits, brought out lounge chairs, and did some tanning. Zoro took off his dripping shirt and continued doing an extremely rigorous workout. Usopp and Sanji took care of cleaning the slush off the deck. Franky got out a rag and dried up the various weapons that got wet when the snow melted.

Crystal was working on collecting kairouseki from the sea. Luffy and Chopper decided to watch her. The refinery process was simple, if not very time-consuming. All it took were a big net and a special chemical. Getting the special chemical was by far the hardest part of the process. It was very rare and therefore was sold at outrageous prices. Crystal was using the last of hers as Luffy and Chopper watched. She stood at the starboard edge of the ship and plunged her long net into the blue depths below. "See?" she explained to her observers. "I poured the rest of the chemical onto the net and I am now pushing it back and forth in the water. The bits of kairouseki in the ocean is extremely close to microscopic, and since it has the same exact color as the water around it, it is literally impossible to see. The chemical kind of catches the kairouseki bits in the water, like a spider web, and condenses them together into one big, solid clump of kairouseki. The clump kind of looks like a stone, and you get that stone out of the sea, so that is why it is called kairouseki, or sea stone. Get it?" Chopper nodded vigorously. Luffy, of course, looked confused. "Wait, wouldn't the chemical just wash off in the water?" he asked.

"No, silly," Crystal giggled. "Have you ever heard the term 'waterproof'?" "Oh," said Luffy embarrassedly. "I knew that."

Chopper chuckled into his hand.

They took turns waving the net around in the water. After two hours, there was a large collection of a strange, thick, blue substance clinging to the net. Crystal laid the net upon the deck and, their arms sore, the three pirates sat down to admire their work. "Oooooh," said Luffy. The soaking wet kairouseki looked almost unreal. It kind of looked like stone, but it also looked as soft and squishy as a sponge. Luffy started to reach his hand out to touch, but Crystal slapped it. He quickly withdrew his hand. "Ow!" he whined.

"Baka!" Crystal scolded. "This is _kairouseki_. You know... same properties as the sea? God..."

Chopper openly laughed at Luffy this time.

Crystal went below deck by herself to work with the kairouseki. She entered Usopp's workshop and got started. Once the strange substance was dried off, she was able to work with it like clay. However, she only had about three hours until it hardened into stone. She sighed and laid out her weaponry.

Two pistols, a dagger, a metal staff, and a whip... all containing kairouseki she refined herself. She needed them to kill Akuma no Mi users.

She needed them to fight the Shichibukai, and eventually, the three Admirals...

She sighed again and looked at all the kairouseki she had managed to collect. She had enough to make a good amount of bullets and even the second dagger she had been wanting to make. She went over to the small forge in Usopp's workshop and started heating the alloy she would need to make her ammo and dagger.

* * *

Two weeks had passed since that day. There was still no sign of any land, and the weather hadn't improved. The Eternal Merry would get viciously attacked by horrendous lightning storms, wind storms, snow storms, and even sandstorms. Yes, that's right; sandstorms. On day 15, they ended up sailing into a giant cloud of sand that was found just rushing right on over the waves as if it was perfectly natural. The sandstorm lasted for an hour, and it was bad.

It is now day 20, and the crew was starting to get restless.

They woke up to more purple fruit-based food. Usopp felt like gagging. "Jeez, when are we gonna get _proper _food supplies?" he whined.

"Shut up," snapped Sanji. "This is all we have, you ungrateful bastard." "Okay, okay, I'm sorry," Usopp apologized defensively.

The attitude on the ship in general was steadily decreasing. It got much worse by day 31. After being cooped up on the ship for a month, the pirates wanted nothing more than to find land, take a long break, and get lots and lots of proper supplies.

It was the night of the 32nd day. Luffy and Nami were getting ready for bed. They didn't say anything. The silence wasn't absolute; they could hear the constant **_clank clank _**of the horrible hailstorm the armor of the ship was now enduring.

"I swear," said Nami all of a sudden, throwing down her hair brush in frustration. "It's like the weather is doing this to us _on purpose_. It's pissing me off!"

Luffy shrugged. "It's possible, I guess. There could be some freak with some freakish Akuma no Mi weather-control power."

Nami sighed. "I sure as hell hope not..."

She took off her robe, turned out the lights, and got under the covers beside Luffy. "Good night," she mumbled, turned over, and almost promptly fell asleep.

Luffy lie awake for quite some time, listening to Nami's deep breathing. He couldn't fall asleep for some reason. It wasn't the hail. If anything, the rhythmic clanking was somewhat soothing.

No, it was Nami... Once again, he felt distanced from her. Why? He had no idea.

_'It's probably just the bad mood everyone has been in,' _he decided. _'Yeah, I just gotta lighten up, have fun! That's all...'_

He still didn't feel satisfied, but he eventually fell asleep anyway.

* * *

On day 60, they were extremely close to completely running out of food. Sanji had been forcing everyone to eat very small amounts for about a week and a half now, a few bites of fruit a day. He couldn't stop it on the 60th day; there was only enough for each of them to have two mouthfuls.

For dinner that night, everyone had two mouthfuls of purple fruit. And that was it.

Luffy started crying. "Fooooooood," he sobbed. Everyone glared at him; he wasn't helping at all. Nami went outside to check the weather. Usopp went with her so he could check to see if they were coming close to land. The room fell silent. Zoro sighed.

"Goddamn, I haven't trained in a week in order keep myself from getting any hungrier. I'm gonna grow weak at this rate..."

"Oh, shut up, big muscle man," snarled Sanji. "We don't give two shits about your training."

"Yeah?" yelled Zoro. "Wanna say that to my face, dartboard?"

"Yeah! I'll fight you right now, marimo head!"

They started wrestling around on the ground. "Stop fighting!" cried Crystal. Robin shook her head, not taking her eyes off her novel. "They are just going to make their hunger worse..." she muttered. Chopper started to yell. "You guys are in no condition to fight!"

"I think even Hat is hungry..." Luffy moaned miserably.

Finally, Robin used her power to separate Sanji and Zoro. "Stop it," she said calmly. "You will die of hunger even faster if you fight. At least try to live a little longer."

"Robin, why do you have to say such morbid things?" Chopper questioned exasperatedly.

Franky just leaned back in his chair and watched everything silently, his face holding no emotion. It was quite unlike him.

At this point, Nami and Usopp walked in. Usopp made his report first. "Nothing," he sighed. He was just as sick of coming empty-handed as much as everyone else was sick of _seeing_ him come empty-handed. Nami's report wasn't too different either. "We've entered another hurricane," she groaned.

Franky suddenly slammed his fist on the dining table, nearly causing it to break. Everyone jumped and turned to look at him. "Merry won't be able to take much more," he said darkly. "It gets me all steamed up just thinking about it! Any other ship would have been crushed and thrown to the winds by now in this weather. We've gone far, but I won't be able to make any proper repairs on her until we make landfall!" He slammed his fist again. "I _refuse_ to see this ship die!"

Everyone fell into a subdued silence as Franky's words of determination echoed in their minds.

_'I refuse to let this _crew_ die,'_ Luffy thought fiercely, looking around at his nakama. _'We'll make it through... no matter what.' _His stomach growled really loudly. He groaned. _'But some meat would make me a lot more hopeful here... Gah, I need meat...'_

* * *

"GUYS! GUYS! LAND HO, LAND HO!"

It was the 75th day, and no one had the energy to rush up to the deck and confirm Usopp's shouted report. This wouldn't be the first time he had lied about seeing land. It was his way of relieving stress, and the crew had gotten used to it.

"I'M SERIOUS! YOU GOTTA COME SEE THIS, GUYS!"

Robin couldn't help but hear a difference in his voice. "Guys," she said. Her voice was hoarse from lack of uisng her voice. None of them talked much because they had recently run out of fresh water and were trying not to make themselves any thirstier. "I think he is telling the truth."

Everyone glanced at each other, then finally got up to climb up the ladder and onto the deck. Nami pried Luffy's still body off her lap. His defense against severe meat deprivation was falling asleep constantly. His only response to getting moved was a snore.

Usopp was practically dancing for joy. The sun was shining, yet the rain was still pouring in the warm air. He handed Nami the telescope and pointed. She screamed.

"MY GOD! LAND!" She joined Usopp's dance of joy.

Soon, everyone was dancing. Nami stopped and with a big smile on her face, she clapped her hands smartly together. Everyone came to attention. "Okay, guys, get ready for landfall! I estimate arrival time to be about... 40 minutes. Let's finally get off this god-forsaken ship!" Everyone cheered.

The first thing Nami did was go back down below deck and wake up Luffy. "Luffy, baby, land! Land!"

Luffy stirred. "N-N-Nami...? Is that... you?" He placed his hand on her face. "Nami... I think I'm dying..."

Nami couldn't help but burst out laughing. "Luffy, you idiot! I'm not joking! We'll be on land in about 40 minutes!"

Before Nami could even sprint out of the room to try and keep up with her boyfriend, he was out on the deck yanking the telescope from Sanji's hands.

"OH, MY GOD!" the captain shouted at the top of his lungs. "IT'S LAND! MEAT, HERE I COME!"

As they got closer, a large city became visible. And it was the strangest city they had ever seen. The many large buildings glinted in the sun. They were all a beautiful, shining silver color. The land around it was a beautiful green color. They could make out tiny dots flying around in the sky. There were large, magnificent bridges made of the same shiny, beautiful material the buildings were. To complete the image of other-worldly beauty, a full rainbow arched over the entire island, no doubt caused by the sunlight reflecting off the shiny city and getting refracted by the rain droplets.

"A city!" Nami squealed. "We still have tons of money! We can eat tons of food in a five-star restaurant and enjoy ourselves! I can go shopping!" She grabbed Luffy's hands and they twirled around in circles, laughing like children. Usopp frowned as he took another look at the city. "What the hell kind of metal are those buildings made of...?" he wondered out loud. Franky took the telescope and looked again. "Chrome, I think," he said shortly.

Usopp looked at him. "Chrome? What's that?" he asked, interested.

"It's... a weird metal," said Franky. "An alloy, I guess. I've only ever heard about it; I've never seen it. The guy who told me about it said it was 'futuristic metal'. I had no idea what he was talking about, but I think I do now."

Usopp rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Futuristic, huh?" he muttered to himself. This definitely piqued his interest.

A half hour later, the Eternal Merry made its landing. The dock area was completely deserted. There were no ships, no buildings, and no people. It was quite an unusual sight.

After the crew armed themselves and stuffed their pockets with money, they got off the ship at long last.

"Aaaah, this feels great!" Luffy declared happily. Some of the crew members stretched a little, and soon, they were off.

However, within moments, they found that the docks weren't _completely_ deserted. A lone, slim figure clad in white was rapidly approaching them, waving to get the Mugiwara Crew's attention.


	4. Island 2

Chapter 4 – Island 2

**No proof reading took place after I finished this chapter. It is very late, and I am too tired to do so! So, yeah... enjoy!**

As the slim form ran closer to them, the Mugiwara Crew was able to hear a distinctly feminine voice:

"Mugiwara no Luffy! Mugiwara no Luffy!"

She was calling Luffy's pirate name over and over. When the crew stopped and made it apparent that they were aware of her presence, she stopped calling and waving her arms. When she finally reached them, she stopped before them and doubled over trying to regain her breath. A cascade of beautiful brown hair flowed down from her head and nearly touched the ground as she bent over. When she regained a decent amount of breath, she straightened and faced the pirates, giving them a dazzling smile.

Sanji nearly fainted on the spot.

The slim brunette was indeed very beautiful. Her hair cascaded down her back in a shining waterfall of silky locks. Some of it draped over her shoulders and the rest of it came to an end at her lower-middle back. Her short bangs swayed in the slight breeze above her breathtaking sky-blue eyes. Her pale skin seemed to shine in the sunlight. She wore a white jumpsuit which clung tightly to her body and showed off her amazing curves.

To Sanji, she was the very definition of perfection. Even Luffy and Zoro couldn't take their eyes off her. Usopp glanced apprehensively at Nami's face from the corner of his eye. She looked a little resentful. This girl seemed to be about Nami's age, and Nami couldn't help but feel... _inadequate_ next to her. Nami unconsciously gripped Luffy's hand as if to tell this stranger to keep away from her Luffy, as if to reassure herself that Luffy was still indeed hers. Nami realized how silly she was being. _'The girl's pretty, but it's nothing to get all worked up about... Jeez.'_

"I was not aware that angels walked among us," Sanji said in awe. "Please, tell me your name."

Crystal looked at the expression on Sanji's face and rolled her eyes.

"Of course," said the stranger. "My name is Lemora."

"Lemora..." Sanji sighed blissfully. "Such a beautiful name suits such a beautiful woman."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," snapped Nami. Lemora looked at the navigator in mild surprise. She was probably wondering where the hostility in Nami's voice had come from. "Beautiful girl with a beautiful name, whatever," Nami continued. "Now why are you so eager to meet the world's most wanted and dangerous pirate crew?"

Lemora smiled. "You probably don't realize where you are. There is something you should know about this island. The only other pirate in history who made it this far is... Gol D. Roger."

Everyone's eyes widened at the revelation. Sanji inwardly smirked. _'So the old geezer never made it this far, eh? Well, no surprise; he was only on the Line for a year. We've been sailing it for a little under a year and a half now.'_

"Suge!" Luffy and Chopper cried.

"So... that makes us welcome here?" Zoro asked quietly.

Lemora nodded. "Uh-huh," she said sweetly. "This town, this island has no name. There is no need for a name since we are completely out of contact from the rest of the world. We are known simply as Island 2. Because we are so far away, it is nice to see new faces around here. And, as I told you, that just about never happens." She smiled.

It was apparent that the pirates wanted to know more, but before they could ask anything, Lemora said, "Come. I shall lead you to a place where we can relax, and then we can further discuss things."

Luffy enthusiastically agreed. He let go of Nami's hand and started following Lemora eagerly. The others followed behind him. As they walked away from the port, Crystal took Nami by the forearm and led her to the rear of the group. Usopp was already there. The three of them hung back from the rest of the group as they walked.

"You okay?" asked Usopp, looking intently at Nami.

Nami looked surprised. "Yeah, why shouldn't I be?"

"You have a problem with that girl, don't you?" inquired Crystal.

Nami scowled. "Of course I do. Don't you, Crystal? She has an air of utter perfection about her! As in, she _thinks_ she is perfect. Don't girls like that bother you, too?"

Crystal nodded. "Yeah, but... this girl seems very nice to me. And... she might have interesting information on Roger..."

"...so don't get jealous if Luffy seems interested in her," Usopp finished very quickly.

Nami stared at them both for quite a bit. The silence started to get very uncomfortable... and then she burst out laughing. She kept on laughing until she had tears in her eyes.

"Y-y-you guys are so funny!" she gasped, wiping the tears of mirth out of her eyes. "Me, jealous? Why? Hahahahaha!"

This sudden outburst of laughter worried Usopp even more.

"Nami..." he said quietly. "The look in your eyes when you talked to Lemora... It was really scary. There have only been two times that I can remember you ever having that look in your eye before. The first time was the way you looked at Arlong when you burst in during his fight with Luffy. The second time..." It pained Usopp to bring this subject up. "...the second time was the way you looked at Luffy after that whole thing with Vivi."

There was a sharp intake of breath from Nami. She gave Usopp a cold stare. "You know those two things are the most _hated _parts of my life... How _dare _you bring them up?"

"Exactly!" said Usopp quickly. "That's the severity of it! You understand now?"

The anger in Nami started to subside as she realized Usopp's point. "Was I really...?"

Usopp nodded, relieved that he was able to avoid bloodshed.

"Well..." said Nami slowly, "I guarantee you that I don't have such strong feelings of hatred toward her... I have no reason to hate her like that." She smiled. "You guys are being silly. Seriously, you are completely freaking out for no reason."

And with that, she sped up to catch up with the others.

Usopp gave Crystal a grim look. "Told you," he said gravely.

* * *

"What kind of city _is _this?" Zoro said in awe. "I've never seen anything like it."

Luffy was speechless as he looked around at his surroundings. They had gotten out of the dock area by then and were following Lemora through a city that could only be described with one word: unreal. All the buildings shone in the sunlight. It turned out that Franky was right; the buildings were made out of a metal alloy called chrome. However, that is not what amazed the pirates. It was the flying vehicles. Sleek, shiny, and multicolored, these flying cars were _everywhere_. They were the main form of transportation here. They were propelled by small rocket engines, Lemora explained. Some stayed close to the ground and just hovered over the roads. Lemora called these hovercraft. These were usually large, hulking vehicles used for cargo. A vast majority of the vehicles were small and flashy, and they flew among the tops of the buildings. They were nothing but gleaming blurs in the as they sped along in the sunlight.

"How can this all be possible?" inquired Sanji, amazed. Suddenly, Nami remembered something. "Hey, guys, remember Little Garden?"

"How could I forget?" exclaimed Usopp. "Those giants..." He sighed happily at the memory.

"Yes, well," Nami continued, "remember how it was prehistoric? We were confused about that, too. Then Vivi explained to us that due to the Grand Line's extremely strange climate, there would be some islands stuck far in the past and some that are ahead in time and have highly advanced technology." She gestured around her at the magnificent buildings and flying cars. "_This_ is the polar opposite of Little Garden. This is a future island."

Lemora smiled warmly. "I couldn't have explained it better myself," she praised. To Usopp's relief, Nami looked a little pleased at the compliment.

As she gave them a small tour of the city, she explained more about Island 2. There were many people on the streets. They all wore jumpsuits. Nami was a bit disappointed with the lack of fashion in this city, but she didn't really care that much. The interesting thing about these people was that a great majority of them would go out of there way to say hi to Lemora. She seemed to be very popular, since everyone seemed to love her. It made the Mugiwara pirates wonder what kind of person Lemora was. Was she a heroic figure or something?

Another nice thing about this city was the weather. The weather was really nice. It was a nice change from the hell the crew had just sailed through for over two months. Sanji suddenly realized just how nice the weather was.

"Ah, Lemora-san, I have a question for you," Sanji interjected politely. "Why is the weather so nice? It was raining pretty hard when we arrived here."

"Yes, good question," replied Lemora. "There is a forcefield around the island. It is like one giant, invisible shield. It protects us from the weather. As I am sure you noticed, the weather around this part of the Grand Line is _really _bad. But be happy! You have gotten through the worst part of it." Everyone cheered. "But there are still many dangers ahead," Lemora added grimly. "I will tell you about them later..."

Eventually, they reached Lemora's living quarters. It took a while since Luffy would constantly wander away from the group looking for meat. No one could really blame him; they were all still starving. They went up about 13 stories in a tall chrome building. Her apartment was huge. The living room area was very comfortable. Luffy and Chopper eagerly jumped onto the biggest, softest sofa there.

"Ah, it reminds of the cloud in Skypiea!" Luffy sighed happily.

"Yeah, like that island cloud stuff from Skypiea!" Chopper agreed happily.

Lemora brought in drinks and lots of snacks for everyone. They eagerly dove for the snacks and refreshments. There was no grog for Zoro. At first, he was a bit angry about that, but then she gave him some sake. It was somehow different from any other sake he had ever had. It was... _better_. There was no other word for it. Sanji couldn't help but admit that the snacks were all among the best he has ever had, too. _Everything_ in this city seemed to be better.

"So, Lemora," said Sanji, "tell us more about yourself." He reached over to the table for one of the snacks only to realize that they were all gone. Nami was already busy slapping Luffy in punishment, so Sanji didn't say anything.

Lemora smiled. "There really isn't much to know about me. My life is pretty plain."

"Really?" said Robin, mildly surprised. "You seemed to be quite popular with all those people out there."

"Ah, yes, well, I am the mayor here," Lemora replied as if this was perfectly ordinary. Everyone fell down anime-style.

"I wouldn't call your life very plain, then," grunted Franky. "Modest, eh? Well, personally, _I_ think being famous is _quite_ a burden."

Nami glared at the cyborg and his smug smile. "How would _you _know anything about being famous?" she retorted. The rest of the crew laughed appreciatively. Franky growled angrily, but decided to change the subject.

"Listen," he said to Lemora, leaning forward in his seat. "We've heard a lot about you and this city. We're the most famous pirates in the world, you know. However, since all you guys on this island are isolated, you probably don't know much about us." He grinned arrogantly. "Would you like to hear some of my amazing stories?"

"Hey, that's _my _job!" Usopp protested. "I WANT MEAT!" yelled Luffy. Nami smacked him again. "Be patient," she hissed in his ear. "We'll all go out for a nice dinner once we're done talking here..."

Luffy couldn't restrain himself. "WE WILL? YAHOOOOO!"

"IF YOU DON'T SHUT UP, WE WON'T!" bellowed Nami, causing Luffy to cower in his seat. Everyone stared. Nami chuckled sheepishly. "Sorry. You know how Luffy can be... ha ha ha..."

Lemora turned back toward to Franky and smiled. "No, no, that won't be necessary. The rest of the city might not know anything, but I do. Now, let's see if I have my facts straight..." She delicately cleared her throat.

"You are all known as the Mugiwara Crew. You have opposed the government more times than anyone since the days of Gol D. Roger. Your captain is Monkey D. Luffy, a boy from a small town in East Blue. He has no real set bounty anymore, but his worth is estimated at about 220 million beli." Luffy nodded proudly. "You achieved this bounty through defeating very powerful opponents. You killed Arlong and defeated Don Krieg. You managed to kill two Shichibukai, Crocodile and the merman Jinbei. You even managed to defeat the highly-dangerous Shichibukai, Donquixote Doflamingo. You also played a huge part in taking down Cipher Pole 9, one of the most powerful government organizations in the world. In the process, you nearly demolished Enies Lobby, one of the most powerful government headquarters. Also, although no one really knows about this, you took out Eneru, the 'god' of Skypiea." Everyone gave Lemora a surprised look. How could she have known that? "And your dream, I believe, is to become the next Pirate King, correct?" Luffy nodded eagerly. "Yep!"

She turned to Nami. "You are Nami the navigator. Your bounty is at 10 million which you achieved through your help in the downfall of CP9. You also come from East Blue. You were enslaved by Arlong for about ten years after your foster mother was killed by him." Nami hated hearing this again. And how did she know about Bellemere in the first place...? "Your dream is to draw a map of the world, right?" Nami nodded. "Good luck with that," said Lemora kindly. She turned to Usopp. "You are Usopp the sharpshooter. You have no bounty, but your alter-ego, Sogeking, does." Usopp gasped. "How did you know that?" Chopper looked confused. "Alter-ego...?" he mumbled, confused. Lemora nodded. "Yes. You achieved a bounty of 20 million for the same reason Nami got a bounty, but at a larger scale." She turned to Zoro. "You are Roronoa Zoro, formerly known as the Pirate Hunter. You are a swordsman who uses Santoryu. Your bounty is at 100 million for killing a certain Baroque Works agent, helping to kill Jinbei, and helping to take down CP9. You want to defeat Mihawk and become the world's greatest swordsman." Zoro grunted affirmatively. She turned to Sanji. "You are Sanji the chef. You used to work for the Baratie before you joined the crew. You have a bounty of 90 million for single-handedly taking out a train full of powerful government agents, and of course, for your aid in the defeat of CP9. You want to find the mystical All Blue." She turned to Chopper. "You are Tony Tony Chopper, a reindeer who ate the Hito Hito no Mi and gained human characteristics. You have a bounty of 5 million simply because you are the doctor of the infamous Mugiwara Crew. You were born and raised on Drum Island. You are out to prove that you are the best doctor in the world, and maybe even find a cure for every disease in the world." She turned to Robin. "You are Nico Robin. Your bounty is at 110 million for your infamous deeds as a child and the parts you played in defeating CP9 and also Doflamingo. You are an archaeologist who wants to find the Rio Poneglyph and discover the True History." She turned to Franky. "You are Franky, the carpenter from Water 7. You are a self-made cyborg. Your bounty is at 25 million for openly opposing the government on several accounts and for your help in the downfall of CP9. You want to prove to the world that you are undeniably the greatest shipbuilder on the planet."

As everyone sat and stared, shocked, at Lemora, she finally turned to Crystal. "Crystal... Not much is known about you. You are a great musician and a refiner of kairouseki." Lemora frowned. "Also, you have a brother... His name is Doflamingo, am I correct?"

Crystal stared down at her feet. "Yes," she mumbled.

"And... what is _your_ dream, if I may ask?" Lemora inquired gently.

Crystal looked up. There was an uncharacteristic fire in her eyes. She actually looked extremely intimidating. The rest of the crew gave her concerned looks, which she didn't seem to notice.

"My dream... is to kill all the Shichibukai, and any other scum that works for the government and claims to be protectors of justice."

Lemora nodded solemnly. "I understand perfectly. There is no need to explain any further..."

Everyone stayed silent for a while. Luffy's stomach growled several times, but he ignored it. They were all stunned... How did Lemora know so much about them? None of them seemed to feel suspicious; they were all just surprised at how much people could know about them. _'I guess it's to be expected,' _thought Robin. _'We are so infamous... A lot of people probably know our life stories.'_

"Lemora-san," Sanji broke the silence. "I have a question for you. Why is this place called Island 2?" Everyone seemed to be relieved at the change of subject.

"Well," said Lemora, "believe it or not, you have reached the Final Three."

Nami gasped. "You can't possibly mean... the last three islands of the Grand Line?" Lemora nodded.

"So this is called Island 2 because it is the second of the last three islands?" inquired Robin.

Lemora nodded again. "The island with the natives is Island 1, and the next island is Island 3." She looked down for a second. "That is where Roger supposedly left his treasure. At least, that is what he told us when he came back to the island.

A thrill of excitement ran its course through Luffy's body. _'The One Piece...! Shanks, Ace, I'm finally gonna do it!'_

Luffy's excited thoughts were interrupted by yet another growl emitting from his suffering stomach. Lemora laughed. "Maybe it's time we get ready to go get dinner."

"YES!" Luffy agreed very loudly.

"Oi, oi, oi, Luffy!" Zoro scolded. "Stop being so loud! I got a headache here..."

"Awww, poor baby," Nami said in mock sympathy. "Does the big, strong swordsman have a big headache?" Everyone, except Zoro, laughed. "Shut up," he growled.

Sanji was still somewhat troubled. There was still one more question pressing on his mind...

_'How can Lemora-san know about Island 3 and what Roger said about his treasure when he got back...? Is it a story passed on from generation to generation, something every mayor must know? Because there is no way she could have been there herself; she's no older than I am!'_

Sanji pushed these thoughts out of his mind. He couldn't bring himself to ask one more question; everyone was starving and it would be wrong to deprive them of food any longer with his silly questions.

Lemora got out a restaurant guide book. There were a lot of choices. Nami pointed out that the Mugiwara Pirates were very successful, and therefore very rich, so they needed to go somewhere really nice and fancy. Luffy didn't care where they went; all he needed was lots of meat. Beyond that, he would let his girlfriend take care of the restaurant choice. Nami, Crystal, and Franky got into a big argument about where they should go. Eventually, with Sanji's influence added, they all agreed on Nami's choice: the Lost Paradise.

Lemora nodded. "All right, then, I will make reservations while you all go back to your ship to get prepared. Be there by 8:00. I'll meet you there."

"Prepared?" groaned Zoro. He didn't like the sound of this. He really hated getting dressed up.

* * *

"Aw, Luffy!" Nami practically squealed. "You look _adorable_!"

Luffy felt rather uncomfortable in his black blazer, white button-down shirt, and black tie. "Adorable?" he repeated uneasily. "I don't wanna be adorable. I wanna be... full."

Nami ignored him as she turned about in front of the mirror in their room, admiring her dress. It was strapless and a deep royal purple color. It glittered in the light. The dress ended at about mid thigh. "How do I look?" she asked Luffy, striking a little pose like a model.

Luffy shrugged. "Fine," he replied. He saw the look in her eye and quickly added, "Uh, amazing! Really beautiful, really!"

They went out onto the deck to meet the others. Usopp had on a suit and tie not completely unlike Sanji's. Sanji's appearance barely changed; he always dressed nicely, anyway. Zoro looked extremely uncomfortable in a tuxedo. Even little Chopper was dressed up in a little tuxedo. Nami and Crystal nearly fainted when they saw him. "OH, KAWAIIIIIII!" they squealed. Chopper frowned as if concerned about their mental health. Crystal was wearing a flowing light blue dress with spaghetti straps. Her hair was done up in an elegant bun. Robin was wearing a black dress. It was low cut, had spaghetti straps, and ended at mid thigh like Nami's dress did. Her hair remained untouched as always. Franky was still wearing his usual Hawaiian shirt and speedos. "I'm watching the ship," he explained quickly before Nami or Crystal could say anything.

"Okay, now who's going with who?" said Crystal.

"NAMI-SWAAAAAN!" cried Sanji, floating up to her.

"Not a chance," she said firmly. "I have a boyfriend."

"ROBIN-CHWAAAAAN!" cried Sanji, floating up to the archaeologist instead. Robin covered her mouth as she chuckled. "Okay," she said, holding out her arm. Sanji thought he was about to die of bliss as he linked his arm with hers... then he remembered Crystal. He looked over his shoulder at her. It seemed she was refusing to meet his eyes, but it was probably just his imagination. She stood before Zoro and Usopp. "Hmmm, one of you has to go with me," she declared.

"Why?" Zoro demanded to know. "Who cares? This is so stupid. Why don't we just _go_?"

Crystal scowled. "Be quiet. This is fun."

"Women," muttered Zoro.

"You know what?" Crystal retorted. "I think I'll take _you_, since you would seem to _enjoy_ it so much." And with that, she seized his arm in the crook of her own and led him off the ship. Usopp and Chopper chuckled at him. "DON'T YOU DARE LAUGH!" Zoro yelled behind his shoulder. "I'll gut the both of you!"

Usopp and Chopper, needless to say, both fell silent.

Luffy took Nami's arm and the crew finally left.

As they walked, Nami periodically reviewed the road map she obtained from Lemora before leaving her apartment. "Okay, we turn left... here," she muttered to herself, turning left onto a side road. Suddenly, something caught Luffy's attention. A rocket car had just landed on a separate road to the right. Pedestrians were boarding it. Nami was too engrossed in the map to realize that Luffy had slipped out of her arm and walked away from the group. Chopper followed.

"Look, Chopper," Luffy whispered. "We have to get on that Mystery Vehicle. It'll be so much fun!"

Chopper enthusiastically agreed. The two pirates started jogging towards the rocket car. However, the side door of the car closed and it took off. "NO!" cried Luffy, breaking into a dead run. Chopper couldn't transform into his reindeer form to keep up; it would rip apart his expensive suit. Nami would kill him. "LUFFY!" he cried as he tried to keep up on his short, stubby legs. Luffy was already gone, chasing the car. Chopper took in his surroundings. "Kuso..." he cursed. "I'm lost!"

* * *

"COME BACK!" cried Luffy. The rocket car rose higher and higher.

"GOMU GOMU NO ROCKET!"

Luffy stretched his arms and grabbed the top of a building. He launched himself at the rocket car. He missed completely and came crashing back down to the ground. He cracked the pavement when he landed. A small group of people in jumpsuits surrounded him as he got up.

"Who are you?" demanded an official-looking man in an official-looking gray jumpsuit. "State your name."

"Monkey D. Luffy," replied Luffy.

"ID.?"

"Um, what's ID?" asked Luffy, scratching his head. "Listen, all you need to know about me is that I'm gonna be the Pirate King, so yeah... I gotta eat first, though. So.. can you let me go? Please?"

"No."

The man took out a gun.

"Wait, no!" said Luffy. "I don't wanna fight you."

Too late. The man shot at him. No bullet came out. A laser did. Luffy somehow dodged it. "SUGEEEE!" he exclaimed. "Ossan, ossan, let me try!"

"No!" the man replied indignantly.

In response, Luffy took off like a bat out of hell. "Hey, stop!" the man yelled. "Your under arrest for non-citizenship! No non-citizen is allowed here!" He started to give the rubber man chase.

* * *

The others had reached the restaurant. "Where are they?" Nami sighed exasperatedly. "If I have to go out and _look_ for them... So help me god..."

A waiter seated them. The place was amazing. It had several indoor fountains and tropical plants. There were many little aquariums filled with cute little fish. The pirates took their menus and started looking through them.

"They'll be here," said Sanji reassuringly. "Don't you fret, my dear Nami-san."

Robin have a loud, fake cough.

"Oh, sorry, Robin-chan! I should be paying more attention to you, huh?"

Robin's answer was a teasing smile.

Just then, the door of the restaurant burst open. Everyone craned their heads to take a look. It was Luffy and Chopper led by none other than Lemora. All the customers and waiters cheered as she walked in. She waved to them all in response. She had changed into an elegant off-white gown. She also looked stunning, just like the other girls.

All in all, the dinner went smoothly. Of course, Luffy ate about the entire supply of meat in the restaurant, but he did so relatively neatly, and that's all Nami cared about. The price would be nothing; they were filthy rich from their latest treasure finds. Lemora explained how she had to get Luffy out of trouble with the authorities.

"Weird," said Usopp, frowning. "_We_ weren't challenged by anyone."

"You probably didn't drop from the sky," Robin pointed out. "Good point," agreed Usopp.

After eating their fill and paying their ungodly immense bill, the crew and their new friend left. On the way back to the apartment, they encountered a bank robbery.

"Well, this is rare," said Lemora calmly. There were flashing lights everywhere from the many police rocket cars humming idly around the building.

"I'll take care of this," said Luffy. "GOMU GOMU NOOOO..."

Lemora grabbed his outstretched arm. "No," she told him. "Don't worry; it'll be taken care of. Don't interfere, just watch."

They stood and watched from across the street as three robbers burst out of the front door, large money bags slung over their shoulders. They started to make a run for their getaway car. Suddenly, they were stopped dead in their tracks as if they had run into an immense invisible wall. They fell to the ground. One broke his nose on the invisible obstacle.

Luffy turned around to see Lemora with her hands raised, palms facing the robbers. She quickly put them down. "What was that?" he inquired.

"An invisible wall," she explained, flashing him a smile. "Remember, this is a future island."

"Ah, a Mystery Wall..." muttered Luffy. He gave her the thumbs up. "Got it."

They reached Lemora's apartment. They all felt like beached whales as they lounged upon her large, comfortable sofa. They were all so full. It was the best meal that they had had in a long, _long_ time.

Nami gave a loud yawn and slumped over, her head coming to a rest on Luffy's shoulder. "I think we should all get going," said Zoro quietly. "We need sleep."

"Okay," said Lemora sweetly. "You all know the way to the docks?" The crew nodded drowsily. So, after they all said their farewells, they made their way to the Eternal Merry for a much-needed sleep. "I'll see you all in the morning!" Lemora called after them, waving. When they were out of sight, she gave a little chuckle and walked back into the building to return to her apartment. She, too, needed sleep... Tomorrow was going to be a long day...

* * *

"Foooooood," moaned Luffy the moment he woke up.

Nami was already up and in the process of getting dresses. "Are you kidding?" she said incredulously. "That dinner last night was huge. Wait. I forget who I'm talking to." Luffy chuckled as he got up out of the bed.

The couple went out onto the deck. The sun was out again and it was a beautiful day. The others were awaiting them. "Come on," said Sanji impatiently. "We have to meet Lemora-san for breakfast!" "Oh, shut up about Lemora, will you?" snapped Crystal. Sanji blinked. "Um, okay, Crystal-chan. Sorry."

Soon, the crew was off the ship again and was making their way across the large, empty dock area. Their shoes made various clicking and clunking noises on the wooden dock as they walked.

"Hey, look!" said Chopper suddenly. "It's Lemora!"

He was right. Lemora's slim form was making its way towards them from the opposite end of the dock area. Her heels clicked on the wood as she walked briskly to meet them. She was wearing the same white jumpsuit. Her hair flew out in different directions in the wind that had suddenly picked up.

"Hello, everyone," she greeted cheerfully.

"Greetings, Lemora-san," replied Sanji, bowing low. "It is a great pleasure to see you come here so early. But why did you come, my sweet? We said we would meet you at the apartment."

Lemora's gaze fell upon each and every face as she scanned the crew. Zoro got a sudden strong sense of foreboding. He didn't know why, but he felt threatened by something... Perhaps Lemora was coming here to warn them about something dangerous? Whatever Zoro was thinking it could have been, he most certainly wasn't expecting the next thing she said.

"Well, there's something I haven't told you guys, she said calmly. "It's really very important. I needed to come tell you now, before you got into town."

Luffy winced. "Oh, it isn't about what happened to me yesterday, is it? If it is, I'm really sorry about that."

"No, no, it's nothing like that." She paused. "However, you _are _in a certain amount of trouble."

"I knew it," Zoro muttered. "Tell us what it is, Lemora. We'll take care of it." He gripped the hilt of one of his swords as he spoke.

Lemora's stated her reply with one hundred percent calmness.

"Well, it's me. I am a Shichibukai."

**Dun, dun, DUUUUUN! What will happen next chapter? Will Luffy and the other prevail over this unlikely Shichibukai? Will Crystal get one step closer to achieving her "dream"? Well... all will be revealed next week! And thanks for your reviewing. : ) Never stop the reviewing!**


	5. An Impossible Battle, Part 1

**This chapter is kind of like a mini-chapter. I actually began wrote this a long time ago, right after I released Chapter 4. I had to stop because I still had to develop Lemora's powers and also come up with a really good battle scene. Then I started playing an online RPG called MapleStory. It is extremely addicting and as a result, I've mostly lost the drive to keep writing this story... So, I release this chapter, or rather this beginning-of-a-chapter, just to give you an idea of what's coming up and so I can hopefully motivate myself to continue writing.  
**

* * *

Chapter 5 – An Impossible Battle

"I'm a Shichibukai."

Her words echoed in the Mugiwara Pirates' minds. How could this be possible? She was so nice to them! She gave them so much useful information!

However, Franky couldn't help but smirk. It had been so clear to him the whole time, but he had never even realized it... Her knowledge of them, her popularity, the way those bank robbers were stopped... it all made sense. She knew so much about them because they were such dangerous pirates, and all government agents would need to know as much as possible about them. She was popular because not only was she the mayor, she was the protector of Island 2 and its people. She was their hero. Franky couldn't think of anyone or anything she would have needed to save this desolate island from, but she must have done _something _to win the citizens' affection like this, and it had kept her undercover. Franky was almost positive that not a single person on Island 2 knew who she really was. Lastly, those robbers weren't stopped by some "invisible wall"; they were stopped by her Akuma no Mi powers, which was why she had her hand raised towards them when they were stopped.

Sanji couldn't believe it. He almost wanted to _deny _it... However, like Franky, he realized how everything fit. Then, that question he had for her the previous day started to attack his mind again at full force... This time, he didn't resist it.

"Lemora-san... how could you?" he breathed. She didn't answer. He took a deep breath. "Everything makes sense to me now... except one thing," he said softly. "How old are you exactly?"

Lemora smiled. "Good question," she said in that same sweet voice of hers. "I am 75 years old."

"NANIIII?" exclaimed Luffy. "How can that be? You're not old! No way!"

Lemora laughed. "Yes, my friend, I am. It's another weird effect this island has on its people... We don't age. I was made a Shichibukai when I was 18, then I was sent here when I was 19. I don't look a day older than 19, do I?" No one said anything. "I'll take your silence as a 'yes'," she said, smirking slightly. "I was sent here as kind of a... last resort for the government. If any pirates were to make it this far, I was to eliminate them. My father was a pirate, and a good one, too. I grew up as a pirate from the day I was born to the day I joined the government. I ate my Akuma no Mi when I was 9. I was very dangerous, so naturally, the government wanted me as one of their deadly Shichibukai so they wouldn't have to deal with me opposing them. I was sent here right away, so nearly no one knows that I am a Shichibukai. That kind of makes me a secret weapon, I guess." Her eyes became a little distant. "Six years after my arrival here... Gol D. Roger and his crew arrived."

Everyone stayed perfectly silent and still as they listened to the Shichibukai beauty.

"He came and I... tried to drive him off the island. I had no desire to kill him... Even to this day, I have no idea why that is. I ended up killing a great majority of his crew. But... I let _him_ go. I made sure that the government was under the impression that he slipped from me on his own. They bought it, of course; he was, and still is, the most amazing pirate to have ever lived. Even getting past _me _was a possibility for him. At least, that's what the government thought. Truthfully, I barely tried to stop him." She looked at Luffy. "Mugiwara no Luffy... I know you want to know more about Roger, but that's all I know. He was a great man. It's impossible to describe him. Just know that it would be very interesting indeed if you became the next Pirate King. You and Roger are very different personality-wise. It would be interesting to see what you would be like as the Pirate King... but it is my duty to make sure that never happens."

Luffy was starting to get angry. "Listen, don't talk about Roger like he was your close friend or something! I hate you now; I _hate_ you. How could you betray us like that? You took us to such a great food place! I wanted you to join my crew!"

Nami was quite unhappy to hear this.

Luffy flexed his right arm and gripped it with his left hand. "Now I have to kick your ass. Don't get in the way of me and my dream!" He fingered his hat like a precious gem. "Shanks gave this to me, and I swore on this very hat that I would become Pirate King and return it to him! This dream, this promise, is far more important than you could ever understand!" He raised his fists. "Enough talk! If you wanna do your job and take me, then take me! Betcha can't do it!"


	6. An Impossible Battle, Part 2

Chapter 6- An Impossible Battle (Part 2)

**Okay, now to _complete _Chapter 5. :P Enjoy.**

"Well, Mugiwara no Luffy, I hope it won't take you long to realize how futile your efforts will be..." She opened and closed her hand a few times, flexing it. "That way, you'll concede before I have to kill you."

"Yeah, whatever," Luffy snarled. His arm stretched back... "Gomu Gomu No Pistol!"

Lemora's hand opened, her palm facing the wooden dock surface at an angle. "Wall Block."

Luffy's fist slammed into an invisible barrier. His eyes widened in surprise. Usopp was awestruck. "Wha... what the hell was that?" "An invisible wall..." Sanji muttered, his thoughts going back to the robbers from the previous night. "She can create invisible walls."

"That's strange," Robin commented, frowning. "What category would _that_ Akuma no Mi fall under?"

"Paramecia," Lemora answered as Luffy withdrew his arm.

"How can that be?" Robin asked softly. "Paramecia affects the body in some way... How has your body been altered?"

"Now why would I tell you that?" Lemora said, smiling sweetly.

Luffy ignored the conversation. He couldn't care less about her Akuma no Mi... He needed to beat her, and that was all that mattered. "GOMU GOMU NO..." He ran up to her a little, then he let his outstretched arms fly. "...GATLING GUN!"

Luffy watched as his fists slammed into thin air at incredible speeds. Not a single punch came close to hitting his target. This didn't daunt him. He saw her gentle smile, and all he wanted to do was rip it off her face. His arms snapped back as he jumped into the air. They stretched out far behind him... "GOMU GOMU NO BAZOOKA!" His attack was angled down to hit Lemora directly in the collarbone. His hands were once again intercepted by an invisible wall, but this time Luffy didn't change his position before trying a new approach. He bent his body back a little in midair and immediately followed up with, "GOMU GOMU NO STAMP!" He launched his foot towards her legs, the bottom of it aiming to take out her knees. His hands were still pressed up against an invisible wall protecting Lemora's upper body as his foot slammed into a barrier protecting her legs as well.

"What the hell!" Luffy growled in frustration. He withdrew his arms and leg and landed back on the dock surface.

"Are you done now?" Lemora asked, her smile fading a bit. "Now let me give you a little sample of my offensive abilities... Wall Wave!"

She flexed her hand again in an impulsive manner. Luffy looked and listened for the incoming attack, but he never got a hint of it coming... until a large, flat, and invisible object hit him with incredible force. It launched him into the air like he weighed nothing. He hit the ground hard, and the moment he began to get back up...

"Iron Blanket!"

With even more force than the initial attack, another invisible wall crushed Luffy down to the dock floor. He cried out as he was flattened like a pancake. If his body hadn't had the flexible properties of rubber, he probably would've been crushed and killed instantly.

"It's not possible, Mugiwara no Luffy!" she called out to him in a friendly voice. She started to walk toward his flattened form. "I can make my walls as big as I want them. They're quite invincible as well. I can wipe out entire armies before anyone can even draw their weapons. I can sink giant battle ships in the blink of en eye." She narrowed her eyes into a slightly more sadistic grin. "And that's just with my normal walls."

"It's her hands," Nami said suddenly as Lemora walked toward her helpless victim. "every time she flexes her hand, she makes a wall. See how she's keeping her hands open? As long as they're open, her walls stay."

"I see," Robin muttered. "They're like extensions of her hands... That's how her body is altered, I suppose."

"So I'll just cut them off," Zoro declared simply, placing his hand on Wadou Ichimonji's hilt.

No one thought Lemora could really hear what the crew was saying; they were pretty far away from the battle field as they watched. However, Lemora laughed. "Very good," she said appraisingly, not taking her eyes off Luffy as she slowly approached his pinned body, "but you won't be able to come near me."

"No problem," Crystal whispered fiercely. The others looked at her in surprise... and nearly cringed. The hate and fury in her face were completely uncharacteristic of her. She drew a pistol from a holster concealed by her light blue jacket. She aimed and fired. Lemora's attention was finally diverted from Luffy as the kairouseki bullet hit one of her invisible walls. The Shichibukai visibly flinched. She turned to face the spectators. Suddenly, Luffy was able to stand up again.

"So," Crystal said with grim satisfaction as she lowered her smoking pistol, "those walls really _are _attached to your hands. Tell me, how does that kairouseki feel?" The others cheered for her as Luffy slowly got back onto his feet. He roughly brushed the dirt off his vest and shorts. "Crystal," he called out.

"What?" she responded shortly, not taking her eyes off of Lemora.

"Thanks for the help, but you can stop now. This isn't your fight."

"No!" Crystal yelled sharply. "This is _my_ dream, Luffy-kun! I want this Shichibukai filth dead, and _I _will kill her!"

Lemora laughed as Luffy scowled. "Crystal, listen to me! Stop now! Got it?"

"No," she repeated in a whisper so Luffy didn't hear her. She raised her pistol again...

"Prison of Despair!"

Lemora's hand flexed several times, and Crystal suddenly found herself in an invisible box. She could feel her gun pressed up against an invisible wall. She was surprised at first, then she smirked. "Fine by me," she said darkly as she drew out a dagger. She raised the kairouseki-infused blade to drive it into one of Lemora's walls... but then Lemora started to shake her open hand violently. The box followed suit, thrashing Crystal's helpless body about like a rag doll. She cried out in pain as she constantly slammed into the invisible barriers of her woefully small prison. Her dagger was knocked out of her hand. It rattled around in the box with its owner, now useless to her.

"NO!" Sanji bellowed. "STOP IT!" He tried to grab onto the invisible box to at least slow down the shaking, but all he accomplished was getting the box slammed into him as it flailed wildly about. "Lemora-san, please stop this!" Sanji called out desperately. "We don't want to fight you!"

"Bullshit!" Luffy yelled. "I definitely want to fight her... and kill her! She fights like a coward!"

"I agree with Luffy on that," Zoro said as he drew two swords.

"Nonsense," Lemora disagreed. "I am using my powers to the best of my abilities. How is that cowardice? Tell me what _you _would do with my powers."

"Not use them to mess with helpless people!" Luffy snarled. "Crystal's not even your opponent!"

"Helpless?" Lemora said, amused. "She had a better chance of beating me than any of _you _do."

"LET HER GO!" Luffy screamed. "SHE'S NOT YOUR OPPONENT, YOU BITCH!"

"Very well," Lemora said with a shrug. She relaxed her hand and Crystal's limp body hit the ground. Chopper cried out in alarm and dashed up to her body... "She's unconscious!" he declared anxiously.

"That's it," Zoro growled, tying his dark green bandana on his head. "Those hands are comin' off. They're too much of a nuisance!" And with that, he charged at Lemora at full speed, wielding his two deadly katana. His swords clashed against a wall protecting Lemora's left side. As quick as lightning, he leapt behind her to attack her at a different angle. He met yet another wall there. Lemora laughed and glanced at Zoro over her shoulder. "Notice how my other hand is always open, my dear Zoro?" His eyes widened as he glanced at her left hand. "It's been open since the beginning of this fight..." he said quietly. "You've had a protective barrier around you the whole time, just in case." He chuckled. "Smart girl."

Suddenly, Luffy's fist slammed into a barrier protecting the right side of Lemora's body. If it hadn't been there, she would've basicallyhad no jaw as a result of that punch. Zoro wasted no time in changing angles and unleashing another powerful sword attack on her... to no avail.

And so, the scene was set. Luffy and Zoro wereattempting to double-team Lemora. Luffy had realized he really would need help in this battle after all, but it didn't really matter. Lemora kept knocking them away with various wall attacks. Meanwhile, Sanji and Chopper were trying to revive Crystal. The other four werewatching the whole thing, Nami and Usopp in horror, Robin and Franky in grim calmness.

"Hey, she's waking up!" Chopper said excitedly. "Good... now I can join in." Sanji stayed at Crystal's side as Chopper popped a Rumble Ball into his mouth and prepared for battle.

"Doctor-san," Robin said, stepping forward, "I shall join you."

"Ok, good," said Chopper. Robin looked at his serious face and concealed a smile. She marveled at how brave he was being... He really had come a long way from when he joined the crew. He put his hooves together and peered at Lemora through the opening they made. "Brain Point." As he concentrated, he mumbled, "Now let's see what your weakness is..." After about ten seconds, he declared that her weakness was indeed her hands.

"Fine," Robin said calmly, crossing her arms in front of her chest in that peculiar way of hers. "Cuatro Fleur." Two arms sprouted of the barriers on either side of Lemora's body.

"My God..." Robin whispered. "Her walls can even block my powers. I tried to grow arms out of her forearms so I could crush the bones in her hands... Wow. That is one amazing Paramecia-type Akuma no Mi."

"Robin!" yelled Zoro. "Be careful! I almost cut off your arms here!"

"Sorry, Swordsman-san," Robin replied.

"Wow," said Franky. "If her powers won't even work, there's no point in trying any of my super-duper attacks."

"Yeah, same here," Usopp mumbled.

Franky gave Usopp a you're-really-stupid look and said, "You don't _have _any super-duper attacks." Usopp was so worried about the fight, he didn't even bother to argue.

"Well," said Chopper, "I might as well not waste the rest of my Rumble Ball, right? I've still got a good two minutes here... I'm going in!" He transformed into his reindeer form and his horns grew huge. "Horn Point!" He charged at Lemora with his head bent down until he felt his antlers make contact with her barrier. "Launch!" He snapped his head up. Normally, this would rocket his target extremely high into the air. This time, he was hoping to at least make his target lose her balance a bit. After all, those walls were attached to her hands, so if he tried his hardest to launch a wall, it should affect her, right? He was completely wrong. It didn't affect her in the slightest.

Lemora's annoyance became very apparent. For the first time ever, the pirates saw her scowl. "You three do not give up! You're so weak, it's pathetic! I can't _believe _you all made it this far on the Grand Line!" She raised her hand, palm facing forward, and made a wide sweeping gesture with it. "Wall Sweep!" Luffy, Zoro, and Chopper all winced as a wall collided into them and flung them away. "Pathetic, pathetic, pathetic!" As she started to lose her patience, her loss of temper started to become very apparent as well.

"Okay..." said Luffy. "Zoro, Chopper, get back. You guys will just get in my way at this point." They hesitated, but his two companions complied. They stepped back as Luffy relaxed his body. He hung his head, took a deep breath, and released it. Zoro realized right away what his captain was about to do... and sure enough, the strange, swirly, white smoke started coming out of Luffy's mouth.

"Gear Second."

Lemora laughed yet again. This time, her laughter was sharp. "You think this will help you? It barely helped you against someone as weak as Lucchi and had basically no effect on Jimbei!"

Luffy narrowed his eyes. "That was a long time ago. You don't think I've gotten better?"

"My dear Luffy, in the grand scheme of things, it really wasn't that long ago at all. _At all_."

Suddenly, Luffy disappeared in the smoke. More smoke appeared somewhere above Lemora. Luffy was in the middle of it. "GOMU GOMU NO JET BAZOOKA!" His arms weren't even visible as he unleashed this massively powerful attack on Lemora and her barrier. The entire dock floor actually shook from the force, and the wooden planks around Lemora all splintered... but she didn't even flinch.

"God _damn _it!" Nami suddenly burst out angrily, stomping her foot. "How can these walls be attached to her hands! That attack should've at least made her flinch! This is BS!"

"Yeah..." Usopp agreed helplessly, "but there's nothing we can do about it."

Luffy landed back on the dock floor and straightened to stare Lemora down. He was indeed an eerie sight with that smoke coming out of his mouth and swirling around him like fog. _'Man,'_ he thought, _'I might as well not even try Gear Third. This is... insane!' _In another burst of anger, he unleashed another flurry of insanely strong attacks on Lemora's walls. They had no effect.

"LUFFY!" she bellowed. "This has gone on long enough! SPIKE TRAP!"

Luffy was in midair and rushing down towards her to try another "Gomu Gomu no Jet Storm" when she got him. He flew right into yet another invisible wall. However, he didn't hit it and bounce off it. He didn't even fall back down to the wooden floor of the docks... He stayed suspended in midair. He made a horrible gagging sound as blood gushed from various wounds all over his body.

His body was caught on an invisible spiked wall.

Name's face went white as a sheet as she clapped a hand to her mouth. "What-what happened...?" she managed to say.

"A spiked wall?" Robin whispered on horror. "How...?" She stared as Luffy's blood acted like paint and made part of the spiked wall visible.

"Not really _spiked_, per se," Lemora explained calmly as she grimly watched the blood drip from Luffy's suspended body. "There are a bunch of small, sharp-cornered walls protruding from that big one he's stuck on. Well, they're not really _that_ small. They're only just big enough to keephis body hung up like that."

With agonizingslowness, Luffy pulled his arms off the spikes and, ignoring the spikes pushing deep into his palms, pushed himself off the wall. He fell from the air like a stone and hit the dock surface as limp as a doll. Lemora narrowed her eyes as Chopper rushed to Luffy's body. "You know," she said, "I could've made a nice spiked bed to catch you, Mugiwara no Luffy... I could kill you in an instant... but I don't _want _to. Please, Luffy, just give up and turn yourself in!"

"Why...?" Luffy said hoarsely, smirking. "I would just... find a way... to escape... and try again... If you want... to stop... me... you'll have to... kill me."

"Ah, but you see, Luffy, then I'd have to kill your entire crew as well. Is that what you want? Hm?" She started to walk towards him and Chopper. The reindeer was desperately trying to stop or slow the bleeding and bandage his many puncture wounds. "My friends, not even a Logia user could beat me," Lemora continued. "I admit, it would be more time-consuming since I can't crush them or pierce them with spikes. However, just because they're Logia users doesn't mean they can get out of my boxes. Once they're in one of my boxes, I can drown them in the ocean, or just sit there and never let down the walls until they waste away and die. Of course, that would be a bit ridiculous, but it would work. The point is, I have eaten the ultimate Akuma no Mi, the Ishi Ishi Akuma no Mi. (A/N- Ishi Ishi is derived from the word ishibei, which is stone wall... I think. :P) It has made me the ultimate warrior. I have no weakness!"

"Except this."

Pistol fire sounded several times as a mostly-recovered Crystal fired at Lemora. The bullets hammered against the invisible barrier. Lemora visibly flinched with each hit. She even started to stumble backwards. Crystal ran out of bullets, and she brought no extra rounds with her. "Now, Usopp!" she yelled.

"Bomb Star!" he cried. He launched several small, powerful bombs at her in one shot. They hit dead-on. The smoke cleared... to reveal a perfectly-healthy Lemora glaring daggers at Crystal and Usopp.

"It almost worked," the Shichibukai admitted in a deadly quiet voice. "If there was no delay between that last shot and Usopp's bomb attack, I would've been hit. That would've allowed someone powerful like Zoro enough time to finish me off." She broke out in laughter.

"No..." whispered Crystal. For the first time, she looked at Lemora in fear instead of anger. Wordlessly, Lemora raised her hand, palm facing forward,and waved it back and forth several times. Usopp saw her raise her hand, cried out, and dove away before he could get hit. Each time Lemora waved her arm, a wall slammed into Crystal. Crystal was done after only a few hits, but Lemora kept going...

"STOP IT!" yelled Sanji. He charged at Lemora to distract her from Crystal. Sure enough, Lemora stopped attacking her to send Sanji flying with a Wall Wave.

Chopper turned into his huge human form, picked up Luffy, ran over to Crystal, placed Luffy down, and started to treat Crystal.

"I must admit, Tony Tony Chopper," Lemora said with a smile, "your dedication absolutely amazes me. It's almost a shame I have to stop you here on this island... You could have become a world-renowned doctor."

"I don't care about that!" Chopper retorted defiantly, tears streaming from his eyes. "I... I care about my nakama! I'm the best I can be for their sake, and that's all!"

At that moment, Luffy stood up. Nami ran up to him. "No!" She wrapped her arms around him tenderly yet firmly to restrain him. "Luffy, please..." she whispered. "I don't want to see you get hurt like that even more. You might _die_ here, Luffy..."

"You and me both know I ain't gonna die that easily," he whispered back. "I'll be fine, Nami... Please stay back."

She opened her mouth to protest further, but he interrupted her with a gentle kiss. "Just let me handle this, Nami. And... I'm sorry I trusted her."

"It's fine," she responded. "How could we have known?" She kissed him back. "Now be careful..." With obvious reluctance, she backed away and returned to the rest of the group. There was really nothing she could do to stop him, and she knew it. She wiped a tear out of her eye as she rejoined the others.

"He'll be fine..." Sanji muttered to Nami. "You know it."

"I hope so..." Nami whispered. She focused on the confrontation between her precious captain and his deadly opponent.

Once again, it was just Luffy and Lemora staring each other down. Luffy refused to lose to her... There was no way he would disappoint Nami and the rest of the crew. And, frankly, so what if he did? He was always willing to die for his dream, and his crew knew it.

"That was very touching, Mugiwara no Luffy," Lemora said sincerely. She really meant it, and Luffy knew it. He said nothing. "With a girl like that in your life," she continued, "why would you want to throw it all away? Why would you want to _die_? You could be so happy if you two stay alive together."

"Damn you, Lemora..." Luffy said. "I am _not _throwing away my life. If I die, I die fighting for my dream, and that's a fitting death. I don't care _what _you say. I'm either gonna beat you here and become Pirate King, or die trying. I'd be happy either way."

"Well, that's good to know," Lemora responded grimly, "because you're going to die here and now. Now that I know you'll be happy, I won't feel so guilty. Still, I'm sorry, Mugiwara no Luffy... You have finally lost. Don't feel bad; this was an impossible battle for you from the start."

"Impossible battle, huh?" Luffy said with an arrogant smirk. "We'll see how impossible it is... Just don't cry when I kick your ass." And with that, he got into a fighting stance. He was fully prepared to die for his dream... but that didn't mean he was going to go down without one _hell _of a fight.

**I have good news! Most of Chapter 9 is already written in my math notebook. :P Unfortunately, most of the time I have to write fan fiction is in the middle of class, so yeah... I will try my hardest to get it typed ASAP. Bye-bye for now!**


	7. Rescue the Shichibukai!

**Well, it would seem I am back! Or am I...? Well, I will admit that MapleStory is finally starting to lose its grip on me and my drive to continue writing, so that is good, right? Plus, a good friend of mine is always on AIM, motivating me to keep on the writin'! Everyone say thanks to her. : P**

**Okay, here it is! **

Chapter 7- Common Enemy - Rescue the Shichibukai!  


It looked hopeless... utterly hopeless. Franky really _wanted_ to do something, but what could he do...? It didn't matter if all _nine_ Straw Hat Pirates ganged up on her; numbers didn't help in this battle whatsoever. It was impossible to overwhelm her. Franky looked over at Luffy and Lemora again. They were still staring each other down. Franky wondered why Luffy was hesitating. Was he trying to think of a plan... or was he actually _scared_ of restarting this fight? Franky shook his head... It couldn't be the latter. It seemed impossible for Luffy to be afraid of anyone. The only opponent Luffy had ever seemed to show true fear towards was Smoker. Luffy would always deal with Smoker by running away as fast as he could. It was almost as if Luffy _knew_ he could never beat Smoker... but if that was the case, why wasn't Luffy running away from Lemora?

'_Could he possibly believe he can _beat _Lemora?' _Franky thought incredulously. _'It's hard to have faith in him this time... I'm ashamed to admit that I really don't have any this time.'_

At that moment, Crystal started coughing. This caught Franky's attention. He watched distractedly as Chopper told her to stay lying down, to take it easy, to not worry about Luffy or Lemora... Then Franky noticed a dagger lying next to Crystal. It's blade shone brilliantly in the sunlight. It was her kairouseki dagger... Then an idea finally came to the cyborg.

'_Why give up on usin' the kairouseki stuff? Just because Crystal can't use them right now doesn't mean someone else can't.'_ He walked over to Crystal to tell her his plan...

Meanwhile, Luffy was preparing his body for Gear Second again. It was a lot harder when he was injured, but he ignored the severe strain on his body. Sure enough, the swirly smoke returned. Luffy hung his head and suddenly disappeared. Lemora didn't seem to care in the slightest. He reappeared behind her with his foot extremely high in the air. "GOMU GOMU NO JET AXE!" As fast as he had disappeared, his heel came down to smash Lemora. A wall suspended over her head stopped it. The wooden dock surface beneath her feet shattered from the impact. However, there was no water for her to worry about; they were too far from the shoreline. The only thing below them was the sand of the shore. Her feet hit the sand and she immediately leapt back up onto the wooden planks of the dock. _'Damn,' _thought Luffy. _'I was hoping she'd fall into water.'_ "WALL RAIN!" Lemora raised her open hand and swung it down. Luffy saw it coming and used "Soru" to dodge it. The invisible wall crashed into the dock surface and made a large, splintery, square hole in it. She did it repeatedly, and Luffy dodged with "Soru" each time. Soon, the little section of the docks they were using as their battlefield was more sand than wooden planks.

Theoretically, Luffy could keep using "Soru" to dodge her attacks the moment he saw her start one. However, this didn't give him a way to effectively give any return attacks, and plus, he could only use "Soru" while using Gear Second, and the strain Gear Second was putting on his body was rapidly becoming unbearable. To cut it short, this battle was still pretty much hopeless.

Franky narrowed his eyes with impatience. There was no way he could convey his plan to Luffy without alerting Lemora's suspicions. Franky would just have to wait until the fight brought Lemora to turn her back to the spectators...

Usopp walked up to the cyborg. "Hey, what are you gonna do with that dagger?" the sharpshooter asked curiously.

Franky rolled his eyes. "I'm going to give it to Lemora as a present," was his heavily sarcastic reply. "What do you _think_ I'm gonna do?"

Usopp scowled. "Okay, I'll rephrase, you smart-ass... How do you plan to attack her with it?"

Franky smirked. "A little better," he said. "I'm gonna wait til her back is turned, then this dagger is goin' right through her stupid barrier, giving Mugiwara a clear shot at her while the kairouseki prevents her from making any walls. Get it? It's a super plan!"

Usopp nodded. "Yep."

"Wait," Sanji interjected, looking at them. "You're gonna attack her from _behind_?" He sounded incredulous.

"Well, yeah, what the hell are we _supposed_ to do?" Franky replied. "We're pirates, Sanji. Backstabbing and that kind of stuff should be our specialty."

"A man is one thing..." Sanji said quietly, "...but backstabbing a woman is _out_ of the question! We're pirates, not barbarians!"

"And what do you think pirates _are_?" Nami asked Sanji. "Good people? I'd say barbarian is a good word to describe a pirate."

"Are you saying you think I'm a... I'm a... _barbarian_?" Sanji asked, sounding hurt and looking as if he was on the verge of tears. "Oh, Nami-san... I can't believe that's the way you feel..."

Nami rolled her eyes and giggled in spite of herself. "Maybe I'm saying you're a barbarian... or maybe I'm not." And with that, she turned back to the battle. Sanji just stood there staring at her back slack-jawed.

"You're so stupid, dartboard," Zoro said, shaking his head. "The woman is messing with you."

"Did I ask your opinion, marimo-head?" Sanji snarled.

"Does it _matter _if I asked you?"

"Yeah, actually, I think it does!"

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, it is! Now shut up or I'll kill you."

"Is that a _threat_?"

"Sure is! Why don't you come get some, you muscle-bound piece of-"

"Now's my chance!" Franky whispered. This announcement made everyone go quiet as they watched to see the outcome of Franky's sneak attack. Gripping the dagger tightly, Franky launched his hand at Lemora's back. Unfortunately, this caught Luffy's attention. His eyes went from Lemora to Franky's hand behind her. Lemora noticed where his eyes went right away. Without turning around, she lifted her hand and brought it down sharply. The bottom edge of an invisible wall pinned down the chain that connected Franky's hand to his arm. His hand fell limp to the sandy ground right before he could drive the dagger into Lemora's barrier. He couldn't withdraw his hand. Lemora bent down to take the dagger from his grip...

Suddenly, Luffy appeared beside her. As quick as lightning, his hand shot out to grab the dagger before his opponent could. Lemora growled as she swung her arm. Luffy used "Soru" once again to dodge the incoming wall. The wall pinning Franky's arm chain to the sand disappeared, so he withdrew his hand. "Alright, Mugiwara!" he cheered.

However, Luffy had no reason to be happy. Using "Soru" twice in a row so quickly put way too much strain on his body. He fell to one knee and the smoke of Gear Second disappeared. Lemora took her chance. "Wall Wave!" A wall slammed into Luffy so hard that the dagger went flying out of his hand. She then swung another wall at the dagger to hit it as far away as possible. It sailed through the air far, far out to sea until it was out of sight.

"Oh, kuso..." Franky mumbled. He hadn't expected his simple and "super" plan to go so wrong.

Luffy slowly got back onto his feet. Lemora shook her head. "So... should I just end it now, Mugiwara no Luffy? Are you ready to die for your dream, as you put it?"

Luffy smirked. "I've been ready."

Zoro couldn't help but grin. That was such a typical Luffy response.

"All right, then," Lemora replied. She took a deep breath, then... "Prison of Blood!" Her hand made several extremely fast movements, and then she was still again.

_'Prison...?' _Luffy thought, frowning. _'Hmmm... that must mean there're walls all around me, just like she did with Crystal.'_

"Ha ha, what's the matter, Mugiwara no Luffy?" Lemora mocked. "Why don't you move?"

"I'm in one of your stupid Mystery Boxes, huh?" he inquired angrily.

"Yes," she answered, grinning, "and the inside walls of the 'Mystery Box' are completely covered with 'Mystery Spikes'!" She laughed quite evilly.

"No..." Nami whispered in horror.

"Kuso!" Zoro cursed. "That's not fair, that bitch!"

"Well, Mugiwara no Luffy," Lemora said in a voice that was suddenly deathly quiet, "I suggest you make a move... because as of now, the walls of that prison are slowly closing in on you." She grinned again, and there was a mad gleam in her eyes.

Luffy closed his eyes and chuckled. "My, my... looks like I'm done for, huh?" He looked over at his crew. "Hey, everyone! I've finally met my match. There's nothin' I can do! It's been fun sailing the Grand Line with you all! Thanks for stickin' with me for so long." He laughed heartily as his crew stared at him in silent horror. "Especially you, Nami," Luffy continued. He looked at her warmly. "Thanks for sticking with me for all this time. Really, I mean it. I love ya."

Nami couldn't restrain herself anymore; tears flowed from her eyes and ran down her face. "Luffy, I love you, too! And don't give up yet, you... you moron! If you don't survive, we're... we're through, you understand me? _Through_!" She couldn't say anything more. She broke down and sobbed into Zoro's shoulder. Zoro looked highly uncomfortable about this. He wasn't exactly used to having girls sob into his shoulder, and plus, this was _definitely _not the Nami he had come to know so well.

"I can't watch..." she whispered between sobs. Only Zoro could hear her. "Please, Zoro... please save him..."

Pity and a horrible feeling of helplessness washed over him. "I would if I could." He pat her head somewhat awkwardly. "Don't cry... It doesn't help anything, you know?" Nami merely started to sob even harder.

"Zoro..." Luffy said suddenly, "take good care of her... and the rest of the crew, okay?"

The sentimental moment finally ended. Luffy felt the spikes begin to slowly press into him from all four sides. The walls were moving really slowly... The agony was so horrible, he screamed.

"NOOO!" Chopper cried, tears streamimg down his face as well. He went into his beast form again and charged Lemora.

"Kuso!" Zoro and Sanji cursed simultaneously. They chased after the huge doctor.

"WAIT!" Usopp suddenly exclaimed at the top of his voice, making every single person stop to look at him, except Luffy. "Who are those guys coming? I think... I think they just jumped off the Eternal Merry!"

He was peering at the ship through his goggles. Suddenly, Franky said, "Yeah! Who _are_ they?"

At first, Robin had thought that this was a rather pathetic attempt to get Lemora's attention away from killing Luffy, but she soon saw that it was the truth. Sure enough, there were ten figures rapidly approaching the battle field from the direction of the docked pirate ship. Lemora stopped closing the walls in on Luffy. However, the spikes were still through his skin. Lemora turned around to face the newcomers. Luffy tried his very hardest to ignore the pain to watch them, too. Besides, now that the spikes weren't moving, it didn't hurt nearly as bad. The newcomers were wearing very peculiar uniforms. They looked like the Marine uniforms except the colors were inverted; all the white parts were black and all the blue parts were red.

"Suge..." Luffy mumbled.

"Halt," Lemora commanded in a ringing voice. "Who are you?"

The strangers halted about seven feet from Lemora. One of them stepped forward and looked around at everyone. "Lady Lemora, Mugiwara no Luffy, Nico Robin, and Tony Tony Chopper... come with us now. You are all under arrest."

"Uh, according to _who_, exactly?" Lemora demanded incredulously. She had a very angry expression on her face.

"You will find out if you come with us peacefully," was the asnwer.

Lemora gave a very cold laugh. "That's a good one, my friends. Now die." She aimed the palm of her right hand at the intruders and made a sweeping gesture. The one all the way to the right of the group turned to the right and held out his hands. He stopped the invisible wall with no visible struggle whatsoever. Lemora's shoulders seemed to sag with weakness. The other nine mysterious strangers surrounded her in a flash. They pushed gently against her invisble barrier. She stumbled as if she was extremely light-headed. Luffy suddenly felt the spiked walls go away. He immediately fell to his knees, blood steadily dripping from wounds all over his body. Two of the strangers each seized one of Lemora's arms.

They completely got through her powers with absolutely no effort.

Lemora became deadweight in their grip. She seemed to be struggling to stay conscious. The other eight strangers turned to face Luffy, Chopper, Zoro, and Sanji, who were all now standing together with Luffy leaning on Zoro for support. As quick as lightning, the attackers leapt at the four pirates. Luffy quickly separated himself from Zoro as the swordsman whipped out two of his swords and intercepted one of the attackers. Sanji kicked another one away. Luffy attempted a "Gomu Gomu no Pistol", but his target sidestepped and grabbed onto his bloody arm. Luffy immediately knew how Lemora must have felt when they had grabbed her arms. He instantly grew extremely weak and helpless. As far as he knew, there were only two things in the whole world that could make him feel weak like that: kairouseki, and the sea itself. The attacker held onto Luffy's arm and jumped away from the battle with him in his grasp. Their speed was mind-blowing.

_'My god...'_ Zoro suddenly realized. _'Robin and Chopper are in trouble...!' _"Chopper, Robin, get away from these guys!" he yelled. "They affect Akuma no Mi users somehow!"

It was too late for Chopper. An attacker seized the little reindeer and jumped away with him, too. Zoro and Sanji looked over at Lemora, Luffy, Chopper, and the four attackers who were currently cuffing them.

"Kuso..." Sanji muttered. "Those must be kairouseki cuffs... Let's go, Zoro, we have to save them."

"Yeah," Zoro agreed. As he and Sanji ran to the rescue, he called over his shoulder, "Usopp, Franky! Protect Robin!"

Franky grinned, Usopp gulped, and Nami scowled. "Hey, what about _me_?" she demanded fiercely and indignantly. She whipped out her Perfect Clima Tact. The three of them faced the five remaining attackers as they leapt towards Robin. She grabbed Crystal and got behind her protectors. Crystal was conscious once again, but she was in no condition to fight. Usopp whipped out his sling shot and aimed at the attacker who had already been weakened by a kick from Sanji. "Hissatsu Sakuretsu Saboten Boshi!" The small explosive pellet hit dead on. His target became covered in sharp quills. As he yelled in pain, Usopp ran up to him and finished him the classic Usopp way: "USOPP HAMMER!"

Meanwhile, Franky was taking on three attackers. "Franky Boxing!" The cyborg got into a boxing stance and smirked. He usually only used this when low on cola, but he felt like toying with his prey a little. They each drew a short sword and leapt at him. He sidestepped one, punched him in the face, ducked to avoid a second one and hit him with a deadly uppercut, and allowed the third one to try to slash his gut open. However, the front of Franky's body was all metallic, so the blade clanged harmlessly against his stomach. He pulled back his fist and punched the attacker in the gut. He went flying. The one he had punched in the face got back up. "Fresh Fire!" Franky cupped a hand around the side of his mouth and burned the attacker alive with his fire breath.

As Franky took down his opponents with ease, Nami was taking on one attacker. He was using a short sword as well. She blocked blow after blow with her Perfect Clima Tact. She jumped backwards to keep his sword out of her reach. She then disconnected her Clima Tact, holding one half in each hand. She started twirling them very fast with her fingers like mini batons, all the while keeping herself out of the sword's reach. Streams of heat and cold bubbles flew out of her two Clima Tact halves. They floated up to the air and started to form a thunderhead. She quickly reconnected her Tact to start blocking the sword again. She was really starting to become worn out... She quickly released a Thunder Ball into the dark cloud above them. She almost slipped; she had to duck just in time to prevent her opponent's sword from beheading her. As an instinct, she swung her Tact sharply up, smashing the bottom of his chin. Strange dark purple blood dripped from his mouth. She grinned at him as he rubbed his jaw. "Bye-bye!" she said sweetly. She dove out of the way just in time... Forked lightning hit the ground where she and her opponent were standing a second ago. However, the attacker did not move and got fried as a result. He hit the sand, dead. Nami frowned and walked up to the body. "What the...?" she mumbled in extreme confusion. "Why was his blood dark purple...?"

Robin, Franky, and Crystal beckoned Nami over to one of the attackers' bodies. She joined them. Crystal was leaning on the cyborg's shoulder for support. "Look at this blood," she said. "How weird is that?"

"Yeah," Nami said, nodding. "I noticed it, too. I whacked one of them in the jaw with my Tact and purple blood came out of his mouth."

"Hmm," said Robin, "very curious indeed. Perhaps they are not human?"

"Not human?" Franky said disbelievingly. "No way. Look at them! What else could they be besides human?"

"Gee, I don't know," Nami said sarcastically. "Here I thought humans usually bleed _red_ blood!" She rolled her eyes. She bent down to examine the humanoid's face a little better... "Wait," she said suddenly. "If you look really closely, you'll notice a really faint bluish tint in their skin. Am I right?"

"Why..." Robin gasped, "I believe you're right, Navigator-san."

"Yeah," Franky muttered. "The more I look, the more obvious it gets..."

"Weird," Crystal said weakly. "But... but who are they? Why did they attack us? _And _Lemora?"

Meanwhile, Zoro and Sanji were making short work out of their four opponents. Two of them fell dead with long, deep sword wounds in their chests. Sanji kicked another in the throat. Finally, they were down to only one attacker...

"It doesn't matter if you win this battle," he said ominously. "We _will _capture and bring justice to all Akuma no Mi users in the world, no matter what!"

"Tell me," Sanji said quietly, "who is 'we'? Who do you work for?"

"I will not tell you. No one needs to know yet... but don't worry! Soon, the whole world will know!" And with that, he attacked. He was much stronger and _much _faster than the other nine. Neither Zoro or Sanji could land an attack on him. He punched Sanji twice in the face, then whipped out his short sword and got into a furious sword fight with Zoro. Zoro was using only Wadou Ichimonji. He felt like making this battle a little more of a challenge. Sanji watched as he rubbed his sore jaw. Zoro was actually struggling to keep up with his opponent. However, as always, Zoro soon got the edge. The attacker simply couldn't keep up anymore. Zoro caught his opponent's sword by the hilt with his katana blade. With a flick of the wrist, Zoro's katana flung the short sword out of the attacker's hands. Zoro took no hesitation in cutting his unarmed opponent in half diagonally. Needless to say, blood spilled everywhere. Zoro looked at the blood all over the sand and broken wood. He raised an eyebrow. He raised the blade of his katana up to eye level and inspected the dark purple blood dripping from it.

"What the hell...?" he muttered. "Are these guys human?" He looked over his shoulder and called, "Guys, it's okay to come over here. They're all dead."

Robin and the others started to walk over to them. Nami looked at Luffy. He was sitting on the sand slumped over so she couldn't see his face. The numbness that had taken over Nami's mind when the strangers attacked them started to subside... More and more emotion flooded into her. Relief, fear, happiness, sorrow, pride, pity... all underlying her deep-seated love for him. She broke into a run. When she reached him, she went down on her knees before him. She could faintly hear the others talking about the strange purple blood and speculating what these people were and where they came from. She really didn't care about the attackers at all at the moment. She had just nearly witnessed the death of her true love... She could remember other times she saw him almost die. She remembered how Aokiji had frozen him, how Eneru flung him off the top of a huge ship to plummet to his death weighed down by a huge gold ball, how the leapord-man Lucci almost ripped him apart, how Jenbei completely wrecked him like he was a tiny, helpless rag doll... and those were just a few of the times Luffy had gotten himself into serious danger. However, Nami had always somehow known that he would pull through all those times... but for some reason, this time had been different; Nami had thought he wasn't going to make it. She had thought that Lemora was really going to kill him.

"Luffy...?" she whispered. "Can you hear me?"

"Yeah..." he muttered. He didn't raise his head. "Told ya I wouldn't die... that easily..." He grinned weakly.

"Oh, Luffy," she sighed in relief. She threw her arms around him and squeezed him tightly against her. "I don't even know why I was worried," she said with a little chuckle.

Luffy's response was, "...Ow..."

"Oh, sorry!" Nami apologized, quickly withdrawing her arms. She stood up and became all business again, just like usual. "All right, guys," she said in a loud and clear voice. "Let's get these handcuffs off of Luffy and Chopper."

"Already working on it," Zoro declared. He walked up to the two halves of his last opponent's body. He carefully poked the point of his katana blade into a blood-drenched pocket. He withdrew it with a key of rings hanging on the tip of it. Nami involuntarily shuddered as she watched Zoro wipe the katana and the keys clean with a rag handed to him by Usopp. "Thanks," Zoro said as he casually tossed the rag back to Usopp. "Ugh!" Usopp dodged the rag and let it hit the ground. "What makes you think I want that _back_?" Zoro ignored him as he worked on Chopper's cuffs, then Luffy's. Chopper got up almost instantly, cheering happily, but it took Luffy a moment to shakily get back on his feet. He had many, many puncture wounds in his body, most of which were bleeding profusely. A few seconds after he got back on his feet, he fell right back on his bottom again.

"Wah!" Chopper cried out. "Look how much Luffy is bleeding! We need a doctor! Is there a doctor here? I don't see one...!"

"YOU'RE A DOCTOR!" everyone yelled.

"Ah! You're right! I'm sorry!" And with that, Chopper rusthed over and began treating Luffy.

"Some things never change," Robin sighed, smiling.

Everyone laughed.

Crystal, who was still leaning on Franky's shoulder, suddenly remembered Lemora. She turned her head towards the cuffed and helpless Shichbukai. She had her head bowed so that her beautiful brown hair cascaded down to the sand, veiling her face. She was so helpless... so vulnerable... Violent images came to Crystal's mind. Before she could make her imagination a reality, Franky followed her intense gaze.

"Oh, yeah," Franky spoke up. "What are we gonna do with this trash?"

Everyone fell silent and looked at Lemora. She raised her head slightly to peer at them through her hair. They all remained queit while contemplating what to do with her. Basically, there were two choices: release her under the promise to let them go on to the last island, or simply kill her.

As the silence lingered, Lemora felt he need to speak up. She elegantly swung her head to bring the hair out of her face. "Listen..." she began, "I understand if you can't trust me. In fact, I would find it really strange if you _did _trust me. However, I have no intention of killing you anymore. You have saved my life."

"The only reason we didn't let them keep you is because they had Luffy and Chopper, too," Nami snarled.

"Yes, I realize that," Lemora replied. "It doesn't change the fact that you saved me."

"Actually," Robin said calmly, "whether or not we want to save you is what we are trying to decide right now."

"Yes, I realize that as well," Lemora continued patiently. "Just know that I do not want to stop you or fight you. Also, if you release me... I'll guide you to the last island."

Crystal laughed coldly. "Oh, yeah, sure, come with us!" she said with sarcastic enthusiasm. "I'm sure we can find a nice, cozy room in our ship for you to stay in!"

Lemora gave a little chuckle. "Like I said, I wouldn't blame you if you didn't trust me. However, know this: you _will _need help getting to Raftel, the final island."

"I'm sure my navigating skills are all that we need, thank you very much," Nami retorted. "There's no need for you to tell me how I should navigate the pirate crew I've been navigating through the Grand Line for nearly two years now."

"Yes, yes," Lemora replied with just the slightest hint of impatience creeping into her voice. "I'm sure you can successfully navigate to Raftel without help. What you _will _need help with is defending your ship."

"I'm sure we can handle defending our own ship as well," Zoro said quietly, brushing his fingers against the hilts of his swords as he always does when thinking about battle.

"In this case," Lemora sighed, "I'm afraid I cannot agree with you. What I said to you yesterday was no lie; the path from here to Raftel is teeming with the largest and deadliest Sea Kings in the world. Your ship can only take so much abuse."

"Oh, so _now _you're saying that the ship _I _built is weak?" Franky said incredulously. "I'll have you know, _that _warship was built to withstand anything, _especially _Sea Kings!"

"Yes, and I know how great of a shipbuilder you are," Lemora responded. "However, please understand me..."

"Shut up," Luffy said abruptly in a hoarse yet strong voice. He pushed Chopper off him to sit up and fix Lemora's face with a piercing stare. "I _don't _understand you," Luffy continued, ignoring Chopper's protests, "and I really don't care about understanding. All I know is that you're the enemy."

Zoro started approaching Lemora, his hand preparing to draw one of his katana and execute the Shichibukai at Luffy's command...

"Zoro, no," Luffy said. Zoro stopped walking. "Let me finish," Luffy continued. He looked at Lemora again. "I know you're the enemy, but I also know that you are not lying."

"WHAT?" Crystal exclaimed incredulously. "Luffy-san, you can't be serious...! She's pure scum, government-controlled scum! Do _not _trust her!"

"Musician-san," Robin said quietly, "don't get so worked up; you're in no condition to stress yourself out so much. Also, it is _not _wise to contradict the captain's decision."

"Yeah," Usopp agreed. "Trust me; Robin is _definitely _right about that."

"She's not lying," Luffy repeated firmly. "That means she's comin' with us. BUT," he said loudly to interrupt any protests, "but, she'll stay handcuffed. I don't trust her _that _much. If we really _do _end up needing her help with the Sea Kings, then we'll let her go, at least for a little bit." He turned to look at her again and narrowed his eyes. "I really don't think we're gonna need your help. We're really strong, and so is Merry."

"Well, we'll see, I suppose," Lemora replied. Crystal looked at her. The Shichibukai had a look of relief on her face... Crystal would have given anything to take that look off her face and kill her at that very moment...

"Let's get on the ship," Luffy said, interrupting Crystal's thoughts. He started to shakily get back on his feet again, but Chopper went into his beast form and picked him up. "Oh, no, you don't," the doctor said firmly. "I'm not done treating you, and you do not have the strength to walk right now."

Luffy wanted to argue and make the reindeer put him down, but he just didn't have it in him. _'Hmm,'_ he thought. _'Maybe he has a point... Maybe I _do _need to just take it easy for a little while...' _As Chopper led the group to the ship, Luffy turned his head to look behind him. Crystal was still leaning on Franky, Zoro had the cuffed Lemora slung over his shoulder, and Nami was staring into space as if lost in thought. Luffy brought his head back to its original position resting on Chopper's furry arm. The captain closed his eyes and smiled. He was badly hurt, and a strange, unknown, and seemingly non-human force was after them, but neither of those things worried him at the moment. For now, he was just extremely grateful to have such a great crew. What would come would come, and as always, they would be ready to take care of it, with or without the Shichibukai's help. It didn't matter to Luffy; the sooner he finally got One Piece, the sooner he could complete his dream and carry out his promise to Shanks and return his hat. After that, he would make sure to do everything in his power to help the others complete _their _dreams as well. It was the least he could do for them... After all, as Pirate King, he would be able to do anything... right?

**Whew... how was that? I hope you enjoyed it.** **Ah, and for those who do not know... "Gear Second" and "Soru" are not things I made up. Luffy actually does teach himself something called "Gear Second". Think of it as a more powerful form. His speed and strength are increased at least twentyfold. He can move so fast, his attacks cannot be seen, and he can seemingly disappear and reappear in a different spot. That is called "Soru" (which means "Shave"), and he learned that from battling the government spies, CP9. **

** Anyway, until next time...!**


	8. Dolphiena and the Final Stretch

**So yeah, remember that friend of mine I told you all to thank last chapter? Thank her again. XD. This chapter is dedicated to her since she wants me to keep writing so badly. Hehehehe. Happy birthday, Meggie. I love you so much! "Past, present, and future..." : )**

Chapter 8 - Dolphiena and the Final Stretch

In all his time of being a doctor, Chopper couldn't remember ever being hassled by one of his patients this much.

"Luffy, I'm serious!" Chopper finally burst out. "You _must _stay still! Get back in that bed, NOW!"

In all his time of being a pirate captain, Luffy couldn't remember ever being hassled by one of his nakama this much.

"Chopper, I've been lying around _all day_!" Luffy finally burst out. "If I can't leave this room, I'm gonna have to get up and walk around every once in a while!"

"Oi, don't give me that!" Chopper retorted incredulously. "You're not 'walking around'! You're bouncing off the walls... literally! And you haven't been lying around 'all day'; we've only been on the ship for _ten minutes_! We haven't even shoved off yet, for God's sake!"

Luffy ignored him and kept bouncing around the little infirmary in the depths of the Eternal Merry. He accidentally crashed into a large, wooden cabinet in a corner of the room. There were the distinct crashing and tinkling sounds of breaking glass. Chopper gasped as he looked at the cabinet in horror. The look of horror upon the reindeer's face turned to outrage as he rounded on Luffy. The captain chuckled sheepishly. "Um, heh heh... sorry?"

"Sorry" wasn't enough for the furious doctor. He went into his man-beast form and grabbed Luffy in an impossibly powerful grip. "Kuso!" Chopper yelled. "Baka! The stuff in that cabinet is extremely important! If you knew what was in there, you definitely would've listened and been more careful!"

"Oh, suge, what's in- oof!" Chopper threw him rather roughly back into his bed. "Hey, ow!" Luffy whined. "I'm kinda injured, remember?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry," Chopper mumbled distractedly as he turned to his precious cabinet.

"So... what's in there?" Luffy finished his previous question curiously.

"Experiments," the doctor replied shortly.

"Experiments FOR...?" Luffy pressed on.

"I'm not gonna tell you," Chopper said a bit angrily. He still didn't turn away from his open cabinet to face Luffy. "You'll find out someday." There was a faint sound of tinkling glass as the hulking reindeer cleaned up the broken beakers and jars. Luckily, most of the ingredients in the cabinet were dry. None of the liquid ones had fallen out. Chopper always placed the liquids in the far back as a precaution. Dry ingredients were easier, and in most cases safer, to clean up than liquid ones. Chopper looked at Luffy sternly.

"I have to get some empty containers," he said. He narrowed his eyes as he continued. "Stay in that bed, got it?"

"Fine, fine," Luffy sighed, sinking further back into his pillow and placing his hands behind his head. As Chopper left the room all in a huff, Luffy couldn't help but chuckle. _'Damn, I don't know why he got so serious. That's not like him! Hee hee, what would we do without him?' _he thought fondly. Then he frowned. _'I wonder what's in that cabinet, though... I didn't mean to upset him so much.'_

* * *

Nami felt somewhat subdued as she looked around the deck of their powerful ship. They were ready to shove off, to once again set sail into the unknown waters of the dreaded Grand Line. Nami had grown so used to doing this, she had never really come to terms with the fact that she would one day sail one last time and navigate her beloved captain's crew to the end of their grand journey. And now, here she was, standing on the deck of what had to be one of the strongest ships ever built in the history of the world, staring out into the vast expanse of clear seawater that she knew to be the final stretch of their journey, the pathway to Raftel and Luffy's dream. Never was staring out to sea like this so surreal to Nami. She couldn't seem to comprehend it... the end of the Grand Line... In addition, she had to deal with the fact that the woman who very nearly killed the love of her life was accompanying them on this final trip. Nami clenched her fist and fiercely swore that she would do all in her power to make sure that _their _crew, _Luffy's _crew, would never need the Shichibukai's help... 

"Um... Nami?"

Nami whipped around, startled. When she saw Zoro's face, she relaxed. "Yeah, what's up?" she responded, turning back to continue staring out to sea.

"Well, uh, we're ready to leave now," Zoro reported. "You all right, Nami?"

"Hm?" She turned to face him again. "Yeah, of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well... what you saw happen to Luffy might have been a bit traumatizing... You sure you okay? I mean, especially now this woman is on our ship."

Nami couldn't help but smile at the swordsman. "Aww, Zoro, that's so sweet! I never thought you were exactly capable of caring about others' feelings like that."

Zoro raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Really? Glad to hear it... I guess. Now I know I am starting to soften up a bit too much."

Nami sweatdropped. "Ugh, you're impossible."

Zoro's smirk widened. "Thanks. Anyway, I just wanted to make sure you're fine because we need to get going here. I get this strange feeling that something bad is gonna happen unless we get out of here now... Remember what Lemora said, too?"

Nami frowned. "Yeah... Maybe we _should_ get going." She clapped her hands. "All right! Lower the sails, raise the anchors, and let's shove off!" Sanji seemed to appear out of thin air. "HAIIIIII, NAMI-SAN!" He and Zoro ran to the mast and went about lowering the huge sails. Franky and Usopp raised the anchors. As the ship started to drift away from the docks, Nami realized something. Her eyes went wide with shock. _'How could I have forgotten...!'_ she thought wildly. _'How long have I been doing this for! How could I suddenly forget about the Log?' _She looked down at her wrist. Sure enough, the Log Pose was not yet pointing steadily in one direction. It was not yet set to Raftel's direction! Nami could already hear Lemora's voice... _"Hehehe, oops. It's okay, I can guide you there."_ No! Hadn't she just sworn to not let Lemora help them? _'Maybe...' _she thought, _'...maybe I can just ask her how long the Log will take to set...' _She stuffed her fingers into her mouth, eyes wide with worry, her mind racing. Normally, this wouldn't have been a big deal, but the circumstances were quite different. They couldn't just stay and wait for the Log to set; Lemora had made that clear as they had walked back to the ship.

**Flashback**

**"When we get to the ship," Lemora says quietly, slung unceremoniously over Zoro's shoulder, "we mustn't waste time. The longer we stay, the larger the chance my people will find out I'm missing. If they do so before I'm gone, and they see me on your ship... they will cause quite a ruckus."**

**"Right," Luffy says shortly from Chopper's arms. "We'll leave right away."**

**End Flashback**

_'If we can't stay here...'_ Nami thought, _'...there's only one thing I can do. Lemora knows the way, I know she does... She probably has an Eternal Log Pose or something...'_

**_'NO!' _**a fierce voice in her head scolded. **_'Do NOT ask or accept help from the enemy! We can do this on our own!'_**

_'No... no, I can't,' _she responded to the voice sadly. _'Wow, now I feel dumb... Remember what she said? She said earlier that she had no doubt I could navigate the crew there...'_

_**'Well, there you go! Listen to her words. For once, the bitch was telling the truth. We don't need her help, she is a traitor!**'_

_'Yeah, but... Oh, I don't know..._'

In the end, Nami knew she had to go to Lemora. Luffy had said that he believed she wanted to help. _'I have to trust his judgement,'_ she thought firmly. The fierce voice in her head couldn't argue with that, so the navigator got up and strode purposefully to the girls' quarters where Robin and Crystal slept. Zoro had dumped the handcuffed Shichibukai in there for the time being.

"OIIIII, NAMI!" Nami heard Usopp call. She cursed under her breath. "I should've figured this crap out _before _we shoved off..." she muttered to herself. "I can't really just stop the ship... I gotta hurry here." She ran the rest of the way. When she arrived, she found Lemora slumped in a corner. Nami held back a sudden strong urge to kick the traitor hard in the face. Lemora looked up at the distressed navigator, her face cool and her eyes completely calm. "Yes?" she said simply.

"How do I get there?" Nami kept the question short and to the point. She noted how cold her own voice sounded. Lemora's calm, steady gaze didn't falter.

"But surely, you could navigate your own crew," Lemora replied with a hint of polite surprise.

"SHUT UP!" Nami yelled. She closed here eyes, rubbed her temples, and willed herself to calm down. _'I want to just KILL her...' _ "Okay... look, I need your help, all right? Do you have an Eternal Pose or something?"

Lemora gave Nami her maddeningly kind, understanding smile. "No, I do not. However, think for a second," she continued as Nami's face fell. "We are quite far from any islands, aren't we?"

"Yes..." Nami muttered impatiently.

"Okay, then. Tell me, what is the reason we _use _Log Poses on the Grand-"

"Just get to the goddamn point!" Nami snapped.

"Okay, then," Lemora said again, nodding without faultering. "The reason we use Log Poses is because the powerful magnetic qualities of the Grand Line islands render ordinary compasses useless. However, you're near the end. There are virtually no islands that can mess with a compass."

Nami's eyes widened as realization hit her. "A compass will work out here..."

Lemora nodded. "Yes, and to make things even easier, Raftel is due north."

Without giving a single word of thanks or any sign of appreciation whatsoever, Nami dashed out of the room and sprinted to the cartography room. She wrenched open a desk drawer and rummaged around in it. She kept various odds and ends in there.

"Ah, here it is..." she muttered to herself with satisfaction as she grabbed her old golden compass and flipped it open. The last time she has looked at it, the needle had been spinning wildly around in a never-ending circle. However, the needle was once again behaving as it should, pointing steadily in one direction. However, Nami noted how violently the needle was quivering, as if wildly straining in hopeless desperation to spin freely once more. Suddenly, she heard the clunking sound of running footsteps. She recognized them as Usopp's. He came to a stop and stood framed in the doorway of the open cartography room.

"Yo, Nami! Didn't you hear me calling you?"

"Yeah, sorry, I was looking for something."

"Oh?" Usopp looked at the compass in confusion. "What's _that _old thing doing out?"

"The compass works now, Usopp! I've gotta use it to navigate to Raftel. It's due north."

"Oh, that's cool! Anyway, I just ran to tell ya we had to turn back."

"WHAT?! You remember what Lemora said! The people of this island are gonna flip out if they find out about her...!"

"Yeah, but... we forgot something really important. We have no food whatsoever... We need to get supplies before we leave."

"OH GODDAMN IT!!!!" Nami yelled. "What is _wrong _with me? First it's the Log Pose... now it's this... I never used to forget this stuff!"

Usopp looked at her sympathetically. "It's okay, Nami. Everyone makes mistakes."

"Not like _these_ mistakes, though!" she insisted. "Usopp... is there something wrong with me?"

"Um... no. You're perfectly fine, Nami. I'm telling you, you just made a couple mistakes. I'm sure you're stressed out with Lemora and everything."

They felt the similar rocking sensation of the ship docking. "All right..." Nami said, calming herself down yet again. "Go talk to Lemora and tell her the situation. I'm gonna go talk to the others and make a plan." "Hai," Usopp complied. He rushed to the girls' quarters as Nami rushed up to the deck.

"Ah, Nami-san," Sanji greeted her. "So Usopp told you the situation?"

"Yeah," she replied, "and he's talking to Lemora as we speak."

Chopper suddenly ran up to them. "Hey, what's going on? How come we docked here again?" "We need supplies," Franky replied. "Oh..." said Chopper. "That's a problem, huh?" "I don't see what's so difficult here," said Zoro, raising an eyebrow and smirking. "We go into town, take some supplies, and kill everyone who opposes us. We're pirates after all, right?" "Hmm... I hate to admit it, but Marimo has a point," Sanji said calmly. "We're supposed to be one of the deadliest pirate crews in the history of the world..." "Well, things can often be taken care of without barbaric violence!" Nami retorted. "We could always get Lemora to come with us..." Robin said thoughtfully. Nami rounded on her. "No! I would rather kill every soul on this island than do that!" Everyone went quiet and looked at her. Nami grinned sheepishly. "Um... yeah, so I don't really like Lemora..." Everyone laughed.

After debating for a little bit whether or not they should take supplies by force, Usopp appeared. "Hey, guys," he said as he walked up to them, "Lemora has a plan. She said that she could go into town and get all the supplies we need."

Nami scowled. "Damn it... It _does_ seem like the best course of action, doesn't it? Still... what if she is lying? The moment we take off the handcuffs, she could turn on us again."

"We have to trust the captain's decision," Zoro said quietly. "What he says, goes. We can't question it. He trusts her, so we have to as well."

"Well, didn't he say himself he wanted to keep her in the handcuffs unless absolutely necessary?" Nami argued.

"Wouldn't this be considered as absolutely necessary, though?" Usopp asked, frowning.

"No! We _can _take the supplies by force..."

"Weren't you against that?" Franky pointed out.

Nami gave an exasperated sigh and turned to Robin. "What do _you _think?"

Robin smiled. "Ask the captain. He is the one who has to make this decision, since he is the one who decided to trust Lemora in the first place."

"I'll go ask him," Chopper offered. He ran back down to the infirmary.

Sure enough, Luffy trusted Lemora enough to go with her plan. Zoro took the cuffs off and he and Franky escorted her into town. They went to her apartment so she could make some calls and get pack some things for the trip as well. Soon, back at the ship, Nami and the others were greeting trucks with crates that held their much-needed supplies. Zoro, Franky and Lemora waited in Lemora's apartment for a while so the men unloading supplies onto the Eternal Merry wouldn't see her leaving with them. Sure enough, when they got back, they thankfully ran into no one.

"Good," Nami said approvingly. "Everything has gone very smoothly... Zoro, please bring Lemora back down." Zoro nodded and escorted the Shichibukai back to the girls' quarters. When they got there, he placed the handcuffs on her once more. "Sorry," he said with no emotion whatsoever as he left the room to go back up to the deck. Lemora smiled when he left. _'This is definitely a very peculiar pirate crew... What am I going to do when we reach Raftel? I guess I'll have to figure that out when we get there...'_

And so, with tons of supplies and a much calmer navigator, the Eternal Merry set off once again. "Give us a little turn to starboard, and we just head north from there," Nami ordered happily as she looked at her compass. "HAI, NAMI-SWAN!" came the expected immediate response.

Usopp walked up to Nami as she stood looking at her compass. "Heh, it must feel really different using a compass again, huh?" asked Usopp, smiling.

"I suppose," Nami replied. "If anything, it's kind of a relief. It's almost like being home again... I am kind of sick of the Grand Line, you know?"

Usopp nodded understandingly. "Yes... It must be quite difficult for one who is not so brave and adapted to adventure and danger. Captain Usopp, however, can proudly boast the Grand Line as his one and only true home."

Nami shook her head. "Okay, Usopp, whatever you say. You're braver than me. Mhm."

Usopp frowned. "You're mocking me, aren't you?"

Nami's mouth opened to reply, but she was suddenly interrupted by a small explosion rocking the ship. "ARGH, WHAT NOW?" she bellowed. She and Usopp ran over to the starboard side of the ship where Zoro, Sanji, Chopper, Franky, and Robin were already standing. They were looking at a small boat... with a rather large and smoking cannon protruding from behind it.

"PIRATES!" someone from the attacking vessel screamed. "RELEASE LEMORA-SAN THIS INSTANT! YOU HAVE NO CHANCE AGAINST US!"

"Screw you!" Franky yelled back. "Maybe she _wanted _to come with us! Didn't think of that, did ya?"

"Then prove it! Let us talk to her!"

Zoro suddenly leapt up onto the railing. "No," was his calm reply. He drew his three swords. "We don't have time for this. We don't need to explain ourselves." His bowed his head and crossed his swords. "Santoryu... Seeking Hawk." He suddenly disappeared. Nami folded her arms and shook her head disapprovingly. "He likes having his fun a bit too much sometimes..." she sighed. The swordsman reappeared on the small boat. He gave one of his most demonic grins to the five people manning the boat and cannon. They all shouted in surprise and stumbled backwards away from their invader. "What, you won't fight?" Zoro asked quietly. The grin on his face would have made even demons fear for their lives...

"L...like hell, we won't!" one man yelled defiantly as he shakily drew a gun. Zoro's eyes widened with what could only be described as pure bloodlust. "Oh, really...?" he muttered. "I'm impressed..."

Back on the Eternal Merry, the Straw Hats watched. A few flashes of sun shining on polished steel was seen on the enemy boat, and suddenly, Zoro was standing beside them once again. "Pathetic is an understatement," he said, smirking as he sheathed his three katana. "However, I am truly impressed. That one guy actually drew a weapon and said something defiant! Oh, well... Attack us and reap the rewards." He walked away. Chopper and Usopp started trembling. "S-scary..." they mumbled as he walked by. They all watched as he found a nice, sunny spot to sit down. They all watched as he promptly fell asleep. They all sweat-dropped.

* * *

It had already been two weeks and nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Lemora had them all scared that swarms of deadly Sea Kings were going to eat them alive, but they never seemed to come. 

"Would Lemora really do this?" Nami asked one morning during breakfast. "You think she made that up to make sure we would take her with us?"

"I doubt it…" Franky said slowly. "I don't know. I just kind of get the feeling she isn't trying to trick us."

"Well, she _had _to be grateful for us saving her," Sanji pointed out.

They were all quiet for a while as they ate. Crystal swallowed a mouthful of eggs and asked, "So Luffy-kun is still asleep, I assume?"

"Yeah," Nami sighed. "You know how he's been lately. Stay up all night and sleep for most of the day."

"He has been like that ever since his recovery from those injuries…" Chopper said slowly. "Maybe it had something to do with the sleeping medicine I gave him. He wouldn't calm down so I had to give him some. It looks like it completely messed up his sleep schedule, though…"

Everyone just stared at Chopper. "And how come you never told us this before?" Nami asked incredulously.

Chopper shrugged. "No one ever asked." Nami slapped a hand to her forehead and Zoro laughed.

It was mid-afternoon when Luffy appeared. The whole crew was out on the deck enjoying the great, sunny weather that seemed to have no end. Nami raised an eyebrow at the captain. "Have a good sleep, did you?" she asked sardonically. Luffy shrugged. "It could've been better," he replied. Nami sighed and turned onto her stomach. "Make yourself useful and put lotion on my back." Luffy sighed in return. "Ugh, get someone else to do it." "I'LL DO IT!" Sanji cried with ecstasy as he seemingly magically appeared at Nami's side. He took the lotion before she could even say anything and started rubbing. "Fine," she muttered as she rested her head and closed her eyes. "But you know the drill, Sanji-kun. Go anywhere you're not supposed to, and die." "Hai, Nami-swan!" Nami opened an eye and watched Luffy as he went below deck for food. She closed her eyes again. "Mmmmmm..." "Oh, Nami-san," Sanji said, "I need to go follow Luffy. Gotta make sure he doesn't clear out our entire food supply... again." "Okay, okay," she replied impatiently. "ZORO! Get over here and finish my back!"

* * *

A month had passed and they still had no difficulties. However, their food supply was becoming low again. 

"I am dying of boredom..." Usopp groaned. He and Chopper were hanging out in Usopp's large workshop. He set up fifteen metal cans again and loaded his slingshot with a special pellet he just finished making. "Spread Fire Star!" The pellet exploded into fifteen individual needles. Each can was hit dead center, leaving behind tiny holes. "Not bad," Usopp said modestly. "I'll give it a real test once we reach land where I'll have more room."

Luffy had insisted that Lemora be brought up to deck so she could enjoy the sunshine with everyone else. "Luffy..." Usopp had said. "It's not like she is our nakama, you know... Why are you gonna let her hang out with us?"

"She's still handcuffed, and she doesn't need to be _with _us," Luffy replied, smiling. "It's just not fair she has been below deck for soooo long. It's been like a year or three!" Usopp sweat-dropped. "Oi, oi... just a month," he muttered.

Lemora did indeed stay away from the others. She sat near the aft end of the ship and watched the calm waters. Suddenly, Zoro appeared next to her. "I've got a question," he said quietly. "Where are the Sea Kings you warned us about? Just so you know, if you lie to us, you might as well consider yourself dead."

Lemora frowned. "You know, I have been wondering the same thing. I am quite surprised that the ship hadn't experienced an attack after the first two weeks. It's almost as if something is warding them off..."

Franky walked up to them. "Yo! What's up, Zoro? What's going on here?"

"Just talking," was Zoro's short reply.

"Yes," Lemora said. "We were just discussing the Sea Kings and why they have not shown themselves yet."

Franky smirked. "Heh! Well, it seems my ship _was _perfectly built! The bottom has a kairouseki coat. I got the idea from Nami a long time ago. I'm surprised it works so well!"

Zoro slowly turned his head to look at him incredulously. "What... did you just say?"

Franky frowned. "What's the matter?"

Zoro grabbed Franky by the front of his shirt and shook him wildly. "YOU NEVER TOLD US ABOUT THE KAIROUSEKI, YOU MORON!" He threw Franky to the ground and walked off. "I'm gonna go tell Nami about this. We've all been wondering about the Sea Kings. Franky, you're so freakin' dumb."

Franky ran after him. "Oi, wait! Nami's gonna be mad...!"

Lemora turned back to watch the sea. "Kairouseki, huh? Interesting idea... I wonder if Nami got that idea from that famous Marine scientist..." She smirked.

Meanwhile, Franky was indeed receiving a beating for his idiocy. "IT WOULD'VE BEEN NICE TO KNOW THAT!" Nami shouted. Franky lay on the floor crying with many bumps on his head and bleeding from the nose and mouth. "S-sorry..." he mumbled. Nami sighed. "Well, now we know we've been sailing for the last _year _with a kairouseki-bottomed ship. That would explain the lack of Sea King attacks... They can't sense the ship's presence since the kairouseki has the same properties as the sea." She suddenly smiled. "Well! I guess that makes the final stretch like a nice break! Now we don't have to worry."

* * *

It had been nearly a month and a half since the crew left Island 2. Sanji announced that they were already nearly half way through their food supply. Luffy didn't complain _too _much. He knew that they would need the other half of the food supply to make another trip after Raftel, so he tried to be good about eating. Nami's regular beatings helped him keep the amount he ate in check as well. 

Usopp sighed and walked out onto the deck one morning. "Man, I'm kind of sick of this weather... It's been nice and sunny ever since we left! It's getting really boring." Chopper agreed with an accompanying sigh.

Robin was up in the crow's nest rereading a mystery novel. Suddenly, something told her to look down into the water. She sensed danger approaching... Sure enough, she saw a _gigantic _dark shape approaching their ship beneath the water. "Hmmm... It looks like that Sea King could easily swallow up our ship," she noted to herself calmly. "I thought the kairouseki was going to keep our ship safe. Oh, well." She went back to reading her book as if she had seen absolutely nothing dangerous. Meanwhile, the huge black shape was directly under the ship now. Chopper called Usopp over to the side of the ship.

"What's up?" Usopp asked. Chopper didn't say a word. He just pointed over the railing. Usopp looked over the railing. "Um... what's that under our ship? And... WHY IS IT GETTING BIGGER?" The next second, the two of them were running around the ship screaming their heads off. "MONSTER MONSTER MONSTER MONSTER MONSTER!!!"

Everyone but Luffy and Lemora rushed up to see what was going on. "What are you yelling about?" Sanji asked loudly, trying to get them to calm down. However, what they were yelling about soon became very apparent. The monster began to surface. The ship soon found itself stranded on a gigantic scaly back that was easily as vast as a small island. A head that blocked out a vast majority of the sky reared out of the water and looked around at its back. It lowered its head so its eye could peer at the Eternal Merry. Nami, Usopp, Chopper, and Crystal all screamed and clung onto each other. Sanji raised a curly eyebrow. "Wow," he said. "This thing could easily swallow Laboon whole." "Yeah," Zoro agreed calmly. "Like a snack." "What's a Laboon?" Franky asked. "It was a giant whale we met at-" Sanji's answer was drowned out as the monster roared. It seemed like the whole world was undergoing the largest earthquake known to man. Everyone covered their ears and hit the deck to keep themselves from falling as their tiny speck of a ship shook violently. Right when Nami thought her head was surely going to explode, the roar ended. With a great surge of rushing water, the Sea King went back underwater. The Eternal Merry was once again rocking gently on the ocean surface as if nothing had happened.

Robin jumped down from the crow's nest. "Well, that was interesting," she noted. "I wonder if it's gone?"

Crystal looked shakily over the railing. "W-well, I don't see anything..." she observed nervously. "Just clear blue water."

Nami strained her ears. "Wait... I think I hear something." Suddenly, her eyes went wide. "Franky! Put up the defense!" "Huh? What's going-" "JUST DO IT!"

Sure enough, as soon as the ship became plated in metal, something huge hit the bottom of it and it shot off like a rocket. "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" the crew screamed. Robin sprouted arms to keep everyone firmly in place as the ship sailed through the air. "It was the monster's tail!" Nami yelled over the loud rushing sound of wind. "It just hit us into the air! That probably makes it easier for it to-" She didn't even get to finish her sentence. The Sea King's head shot out of the water below them and opened its mouth. Even though it barely opened up at all, it was still like looking down into a huge, bottomless canyon. "TO EAT US!" Nami finished with a scream of terror. Franky ran to the aft end of the ship and held out his hands, one holding the back of the other. A large hole appeared in his palm. "Robin, hold me down! COUP DE VENT!" A wall of arms sprouted from the ship to keep Franky in place. A huge blast of destructive wind emanated from the hole in his hand. The boat shot forward in midair like an airplane. They missed the monster's mouth by an agonizing few feet. They could smell its horrible breath. "WE'RE GOING TO DIIIIIIIIE!" Usopp and Chopper screamed in unison as Merry began to plummet back down to the water at an angle. The ship rocked violently as it returned the ocean's surface once more with a huge splash. The Sea King, however, did not go back underwater this time. Its head flew down towards the ship. "Uh, oh..." Sanji muttered to himself. "We can't stop this thing, it's way too big." Suddenly, Luffy ran past him and launched himself into the air. Sanji smiled in surprise. "Oh, wow. The captain actually woke up."

"GOMU GOMU NO GIGANT BAZOOKA!"

His arms grew big enough to easily crush the world's largest galleon. He was in Gear Third, giving him the ability to make his bones inflate and make his limbs grow to immense sizes. The beast roared as the attack connected. Even though Luffy's arms were so huge, his fists were still only the size of the Sea King's eyes. However, Luffy's insane strength caused the monster's head to flinch back. "YAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" the captain roared as he started to fall back down to the ship. "NO SEA KING IS GONNA STOP MEEEE!" However, the monster merely closed its eyes and shook its head as Luffy landed back on the deck. It renewed its attack. Its head was rushing toward Merry once more, its mouth opening...

"Oh, wow," Luffy said, blinking. "Looks like we're screwed."

Sanji rounded on him. "THAT'S ALL YOU'VE GOT TO SAY?" he bellowed. Luffy groaned and inflated his arms again. He extended them and held up his giant hands to hopefully stop the Sea King's head in its tracks. "THAT'S ALL YOU'RE GONNA DO?" Sanji bellowed once more. "YOUR HANDS ARE BARELY BIGGER THAN ONE OF IT'S TEETH!" "WELL, LET'S SEE _YOU _DO SOMETHING!" Luffy yelled back at him.

Suddenly, with a huge crash, the Sea King's head came to a halt. It looked like its head had slammed into a gigantic wall...

"LEMORA-SAN!" Sanji yelled with joy and relief.

Sure enough, there she was with Zoro right behind her. When the ship had landed back on the ocean after being launched into the air, the swordsman immediately ran below deck to take off Lemora's handcuffs and bring her up to stop the Sea King. Her hair was very disheveled and unkempt and she had bags under her eyes from lack of decent sleep, but she stared at the beast with an unbreakable determination in her eyes as she held out her hands to maintain her invisible wall. "The likes of you," Lemora muttered, "will never stop me."

The Sea King repeatedly banged its head into the wall. Suddenly, it went underwater. They all watched as the dark shape glided under their ship... Suddenly, their ship was lifted into the air slightly. Nami looked at Lemora. Her face was contorted in concentration as her hands kept switching from opened to closed, raising her arms and bringing them back down. Everyone on the ship felt Merry being placed on a surface. They looked down over the railing... An invisible wall was keeping them suspended over the surface of the water. The gigantic head burst out the water, its canyon-sized mouth open and pointed up to swallow the ship. It was the weirdest sensation. It was like floating above a gaping, pitch-black bottomless pit. No matter how hard the Sea King tried, it could not break through the wall. Eventually, it made a strange, deep-throated whining sound and gave up. It went back underwater and swam away astonishingly fast.

Lemora slumped into a sitting position. Her eyes were closed and her breathing was labored. She grinned. "It's been a while since I've had to exert myself that much..." she confessed. "I had to grab the ship with two walls and lift it and place it on another wall to protect the bottom because I can't make a wall underwater... It's hard to use walls to lift something like that, very hard. Well... I am glad I got to help."

Franky shook his head. "I don't understand, though. How did it know the ship was here? The kairouseki should make our ship hidden to _everything _the ocean."

Lemora shrugged. "It seems this particular Sea King was near the surface just by coincidence. Even though sea creatures won't be able to sense or smell ships with kairouseki bottoms, they can still _see _them if they get close enough." She laughed. "It just happened to be our luck that one of the hugest and deadliest Sea Kings in the world decided to pop up for a visit instead of one of the smaller ones."

"Yeah," Usopp said sarcastically, "real funny. And Chopper, you can unlatch yourself from my head now. The Sea King's gone."

"Y-you sure?" Chopper asked in fright.

Luffy laughed. "Silly Chopper! Of course it's gone!"

Chopper turned and looked at Luffy. He laughed and jumped off of Usopp's head. "Yay, it's little Luffy!" Chopper cheered. Whenever Luffy used Gear Third, he would deflate and shrink into a weak chibi-like form for a few moments afterwards, making it very risky to use in battle. Chopper was about to hug him, but he started to grow. Chopper pouted when Luffy went back to regular size. "Awwww, I like little Luffy," the doctor complained. Everyone laughed.

* * *

It was two weeks after the crew's near-death experience. The weather was still great, and no more Sea Kings had attacked them. Everyone had more respect for Lemora after her spectacular performance. Only Crystal still gave her the cold shoulder. _'Shichibukai scum will always be Shichibukai scum,' _she told herself over and over again. One day, Lemora told the crew more about herself. She revealed that her full name was Lemora Dolphiena. It had always been her dream even as a toddler to be a powerful pirate. She ate her Devil Fruit at the shocking age of five. 

"I gathered a crew and achieved that dream. Keep in mind that this was before the Golden Age of Piracy, so being a pirate was a much bigger deal back then." She unzipped her jumpsuit a little bit and reached into an inner pocket. She pulled out a very old and worn out wanted notice.

**Wanted Dead or Alive**

**Guardian Dolphiena**

"F-F-FIVE HUNDRED MILLION?" everyone exclaimed in surprise.

"Suge!" Luffy and Chopper cried out in unison.

"That's insane!" Usopp said incredulously. "You weren't kidding about being a pirate back then! No one could reach 500,000,000 these days!"

"So what made you become a Shichibukai, Dolphiena-san?" Sanji inquired.

Lemora laughed. "Please, keep calling me Lemora; I am used to that name." She looked warmly at her old wanted notice. "I became a Shichibukai because, quite simply, I had nothing better to do. When the government approached me with the offer, I realized that I had gotten kind of sick of the pirate lifestyle, and of my crew. Therefore, I left behind both and became a feared World Government ally."

Luffy shook his head. "That's not cool. No one should abandon their nakama like that."

Lemora laughed again. "They were glad to be rid of me, too, I assure you. I wasn't exactly a... _lenient _captain. I ruled by force. But still... I am quite fond of those days. I keep this wanted notice with me at all times to remind myself what I truly am, as opposed to what I have been pretending to be for a number of decades now..."

She explained how the government stationed her near the end of the Grand Line to make sure no pirate could reach Raftel. She never understood why, but she did what she was told. She reached Island 2 and saw how it was overrun with crime. She effortlessly brought an end to all of it and became an instant hero. No one had questioned where she came from. No one had cared; she was their savior.

"There were actually a few pirates that had somehow reached Island 2 before Roger... I took care of them all without even trying. Roger was different though. He had a large crew. I killed a vast majority of them. However, Roger himself was an enigma. I could never hit him with my walls or trap him... He was always one step ahead of me. After days of fighting- yes, _days_- we finally called a truce. As a Shichibukai, I'm not really _bound _to the government. You know how some do whatever they please. I felt it necessary to be like that; I ignored the government for Roger's sake. I allowed him to pass. If there was a person strong enough to hold his or her own against me for that long, then they deserved to move on to Raftel. Roger was that person, and I most certainly do not regret my decision. Luffy... you are weak compared to him. I don't know what's on Raftel, but whatever it is, I don't think you'll be strong enough to face it."

Luffy's face was set. "I might not be, but that's why I have a crew. We all work together, and nothing can ever stop us."

Lemora nodded. "Whatever you say, my friend. If you have that much faith in your nakama, then I wish you the best of luck. Obviously, I have been wrong before, and this may be one of those times."

Later at dinner, Lemora was back downstairs as she always was when the crew ate. Sanji would bring food down to her twice a day although he desperately wished he could do it more often. After all, she was such a _beautiful _woman.

"Our conversation with Lemora-san was interesting..." Sanji said as they ate. "I want to know more about her... Maybe i should bring her down some more food... She is an angel, and angels need lots of food..."

Crystal glared at him. "She is a Shichibukai. I can't believe you would even hit on her, no matter how _pretty _she is!"

Sanji shrugged. "I can't help it, it's who I am." Crystal shook her head in disgust. Sanji stayed quiet throughout the meal afterwards, which was unlike him.

Shortly after dinner, Nami went to her and Luffy's room for the night. "Oi, Luffy," Zoro said. "Is she okay? It's kind of early."

Luffy shrugged. "I don't know. She's tired?"

One by one, the rest of the crew went to bed as well. Crystal stayed up to keep watch up on deck. She sighed as she lounged in the crow's nest, lost in the endless swirls of stars in the clear night sky. She snapped back to reality with a scream as a pair of hands suddenly grabbed the edge of the nest. A second later, Luffy launched himself up to join her. "What's up?" he asked casually with a grin. She smacked him. "Luffy-kun! Don't ever do that!" "S-sorry..." Luffy stuttered.

The two of them sat in silence for a bit. "So what do you want?" Crystal asked quietly.

"Oh, I'm just curious about somethin'!" Luffy answered. "You like Sanji?"

Crystal started at the question. "W-what? Why do you ask?"

Luffy looked up at the sky. "I'm not sure. Just seems you do and I wanna be sure you don't need help."

Crystal raised an eyebrow at him. "Help?" she repeated, amused.

"Yeah," Luffy replied, oblivious to the note of amusement in her voice. "Sanji helped me, you know! With Nami. So I thought maybe I could do the same!"

"Wait, wait," Crystal said. "With Nami? He helped you with Nami? What do you mean?"

Luffy shrugged. "I'm kind of dumb sometimes, and he knew me and her liked each other somehow, and he helped me. Told me what to say and how to act and stuff." He looked at her again. "So I was thinking, if you like Sanji and haven't said anything yet, you should! Maybe you haven't cuz you don't know how. So do you need help?"

Crystal burst into a fit of giggles. "Luffy-kun, you're so funny." She laughed some more as Luffy watched her in confusion. "What did I say?" he asked. She just kept laughing. Not knowing what else to do, Luffy joined her.

"Hey, Luffy-kun..." she said after a few moment's silence. "Do you think he likes _me_?"

Luffy shrugged again. "Can't tell with him. He likes all the girls. He seems different with you though."

Crystal's eyes widened. "What do you mean?"

Luffy laughed. "I have no idea! Just seems different to me. Maybe he doesn't act the same with you or something? I really don't know. I'm just saying what I _do _know. Anyway..." He got up and frowned. "...I better get to bed. I'm gonna go sleep in the guys' room again tonight. If you ever need help, ask me, okay?"

She giggled again. "Okay, I'll remember that," she said warmly. As he was about to jump out of the crow's nest, a question suddenly surfaced in her mind. "Luffy-kun, wait! I wanna ask you something, too..."

"Hm? What's up?"

"Why have you been sleeping with the guys lately? Why not with Nami? And you two don't really talk anymore. Is everything okay with you two?"

Luffy looked at her confused. "Huh? I guess everything's okay, thanks for asking," he responded. "Just gets boring sometimes, you know? Maybe you don't." He laughed. "Okay, good night!" He jumped down and went below deck.

Crystal leaned back and and watched the starry sky again. All through the night, she thought about Luffy's words... Was it possible that Sanji liked her differently from other girls? Could she even return his feelings? He was a nice guy and all, but he was, quite frankly, a skirt chaser. She had no interest in men like him. Plus... he had the audacity to hit on and constantly compliment Lemora, the Shichibukai filth... "I can't believe him," Crystal said to herself. "It doesn't matter if they're friend or foe, good or evil... If a girl is good-looking, he can't resist her. Pathetic... No, I _don't _like him and I never will. Besides... how could a womanizer like him... have any special feelings for someone like me? I'm sure he's met tons of better girls..."

* * *

Nami tried to sleep. She tossed and turned. She tried her hardest to push him out of her mind... This wasn't the first time he had done this. He was a peculiar man. She loved him dearly, but she sometimes wished he was easier to understand. 

"Why... has he been sleeping in the other room for the past week?" she whispered to herself. "I guess maybe a change of scenery... Why do I care? This isn't the first time he's done this. Why do I feel... so lonely..." They came without warning. Tears flowed hot from her sleep-deprived eyes and soaked her pillow. "Luffy... what's going on? Why won't you talk to me...?"

Luffy, in the meantime, was completely unaware that his girlfriend was crying herself to sleep. He laid in his hammock and stared at the ceiling. Raftel... it was so close! Soon, he would be Pirate King. Thinking about it drove everything out of his mind, even Nami. Maybe _that _was why he felt no desire to sleep with her these days... why he never really felt like talking to her... why he hadn't told her he loved her in such a long time... He suddenly found that these thoughts weren't upsetting. _'As long as she is still my nakama, that's all that matters,' _he thought firmly. _'We don't need to have anything extra, right? Nope; she's my navigator. Doesn't have to be anything more, right? I guess we'll see.'_

As Luffy lay in deep thought, as Nami sobbed herself into a non-restful sleep, Crystal continued to watch the stars. Eventually, the sun began to rise. Crystal got up, stretched and looked out to the north again.

Her heart stopped. There... in the glow of the rising sun... she spotted what was unmistakably...

"LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND! LAND HOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

**Hopefully, you all enjoyed this chapter! I kind of dragged it out. The next chapter should be an interesting one, should I ever get around to writing it! College gets a nice, long winter break, and I am basically sick of MapleStory now, so who knows? Maybe I will really start writing again... **

**Oh, yes, and of course... PLEASE REVIEW: )**


End file.
